Illusions
by Tovaras
Summary: Sequel to My Little Eye. Six months after Quatre dragged a very unwilling Heero to see a fortune teller, Heero's living a very happy life with his lover Duo Maxwell, when a Relena Peacecraft gives Duo a mission he can't say no to.
1. Chapter 1

**Illusions**

Author: Dragongirl85

Pairings: 1x2

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Sorry to say it, but I don't... If I did, Relena would be killed a long time ago and the Gundam Boys would be extremely happy (not because Relena was dead. Well, Heero would...) I'm making no money for writing this. Don't sue, you won't get much anyway because I am a poor student. I have nothing to offer in my pockets. Hey, wait… POCKET LINT!!!

Rating: T (So far)

Notes: Sequel to "My Little Eye". I don't have a complete idea, but I have a feeling as to where I want it to go. I have no idea how long it'll become so I hope you'll enjoy it none the less.

Warnings: AU, slightly OOC, mention of the occult, Seeing, humor

Archive: Sure, but please ask first.

xoxoxoxox

"Sir, I can assure you that you have nothing to worry about. Your wife will give birth to a beautiful and healthy baby-girl."

The man smiled brightly and shook Duo's hand before handing Duo his fee. "Thank you so much, it lightens my heart to hear that," the man said before walking to the door.

Duo followed and opened it. "I am glad I can be of service to you," he smiled as he saw the man out. Then he raised his eyebrows and carefully closed the door. "Too bad the baby isn't yours."

Heero looked up from the pot on the stove and after giving the food a good stir, he turned the heat down. "Why didn't you tell him that?"

Duo chuckled a little and walked over to the table to clean away the cards he had used for the fortune-telling. "Because he asked me specifically to tell him if his wife's birth was going to be a success, not whose baby it was and unless the client asks, I cannot tell. It's one of those universal rules of fate and all that."

Heero just chuckled before lifting the pot off the stove after turning it off completely and walked over to the living-room table. "Well, get your spiritual ass off the couch and set the table so we can eat. Your last client was here way longer than planned and I really don't want to listen when you're doing your sessions. I'm just glad that he didn't mind my presence." Raising an eyebrow while Duo placed a pad for the pot onto the table, Heero put it down before placing his hands on his hips. "Did you know that client would be here that long?"

Duo just grinned before getting some plates and utensils from the kitchen. "Heero, just because I'm a psychic doesn't mean I can see everything."

Heero gave Duo a look before taking the plates from the braided man. "You knew."

"Of course," Duo laughed and placed the utensils onto the table.

Heero laughed before grabbing Duo around the waist from behind and hugged him close. Nuzzling his nose into the mass of hair, he used a hand to stroke over Duo's stomach before murmuring. "Then can you foresee what I wanna do later tonight, hmm?"

Duo just grinned and leaned against the man's chest while his hands found their way to Heero's arms, giving them a squeeze. "Baby, I don't need to be a psychic in order to know what you want… But if you're nice and behave… Then I can foresee that you might get lucky tonight."

Heero just growled into Duo's neck as a reply, earning a rich laugher from the other male. "Come on, lets eat before it gets cold. Then maybe you can have your fun later."

Heero growled again, but released the male and took a seat. Duo just chuckled and did the same. "So how was your day," he asked while helping himself to some food.

"You have to ask? You already told me this morning that I would forget my lunch and that Quatre wanted me to help him pick a shirt for his night out with Trowa," Heero replied while giving his lover a look, his lips tugged up in a smirk.

Duo snickered and filled both their glasses with water. "Well, that was only a part of your day. Tell me about the rest."

"Like you don't know already," Heero replied after swallowing a mouthful of the stew he'd been making.

"You know as well as I do that I can't see everything. If I did, I would have been able to call a plumber when our toilet clogged up before it actually happened. It's not fun to wipe up water from the toilet," Duo quipped back, used to this conversation by now. It had become a ritual.

Heero just chuckled. "Right right."

Duo stuck his tongue out at the male before repeating the question. "So how was your day?"

"Same old," Heero replied while stabbing some meat with his fork. "Quatre's left me in charge of the new anti-virus' program we're developing."

"That's not old, that's great news," Duo replied, lifting a foot to bump it against Heero's under the table. "It should give you a challenge."

Heero nodded while giving the braided male an affectionate smile. "I suppose it will. I haven't really had much to do, especially after you came into my life."

Duo only smiled back and leaned slightly forward over the table. "Well, I want you home as muchas Quatre will allow," Duo murmured.

"And I wanna be home as much as I can," Heero murmured back before putting his fork down. Leaning over the table, Heero pushed his lips to Duo's, dinner forgotten for the time being.

Almost half a year had passed since Quatre had forced a rather unwillingly Heero over Duo's door-step for a session. They had been together ever since that fateful event, but they had only recently decided that they were ready to live together. Since Duo worked at home and couldn't afford to just change places, Heero had moved in with him since he didn't really feel any attachments to his old place.

While Duo's working-habits were the same, scheduling sessions as people called, Heero's own habits had changed drastically. He was just as efficient at work, but he didn't work as much over-time anymore since he now had a reason to come home.

Life for the two of them was mostly good, sometimes they bickered, but they had made it as a rule that they would never go to bed angry.

Chuckling a little as Heero made an attempt to climb onto the table, Duo placed a hand on the other man's forehead and gave it a push so the kiss ended. "Down, boy. Dinner before dessert," he mused, giving Heero a teasing smile.

Heero only groaned and obediently sat down again. "You have put a spell on me. I just know you have."

Duo laughed and tapped his fork against Heero's nose. "That's not on the list of my abilities and you know it, Heero Yuy. I can only predict the future as well as the occasional mind-reading and sensing ghost's type of things."

"And finding lost socks," Heero quipped before finishing up his food.

Duo laughed at that before grinning. "I knew you only kept me around so I could find your socks."

"That and the great sex," Heero grinned and wiggled his eyebrows.

Duo only laughed at that.

Things had changed since the two men had gotten together and in their friends' points of view, the changes were for the better. Heero was more relaxed now and he was smiling more often than before. His dry sense of humour still lingered, but that was okay. It was a part of who he was. Duo was more relaxed as well and while he had always been cheerful and smiling, the sad aura around him had disappeared.

Finishing up the dinner, Duo shooed Heero out of the kitchen so he could do the dishes in peace. Heero did as told, but not before stealing a few nibbles to his lover's neck.

Duo only chuckled at that and started washing the dishes. Heero found his way to the living-room where he turned on the TV and had a seat down at the couch. "Sure you don't need a hand, Duo," he called while channel-surfing.

Duo smiled and shook his head. "Nope, I'm all good, babe. And no, I am not afraid of getting wrinkly hands," he grinned, making Heero sigh.

"It's no fun trying to pull jokes at you," he mumbled while sitting down more properly onto the couch.

"I appreciate the sentiment," Duo laughed before focusing on the pot they'd used to cook the food. When he was done, he pulled out the plug from the sink and started drying the plates before reaching up towards the cupboards to put them away. Suddenly he squeezed his eyes shut and his grip on the plates loosened, sending the plates crashing to the floor. Grasping his forehead, Duo gripped on the counter, his face pulled back in a slightly pained expression.

Moments later Heero was by his side, a worried hand resting on Duo's waist while the other one was nudging the hand on Duo's forehead away, only to replace it with his own. "Are you all right, Duo?"

Nudging Heero's hand away, Duo nodded and took a deep breath. "Yeah… Yeah, I'm fine…"

Heero didn't look convinced, but still moved away to give Duo some room. "What happened?"

Duo rubbed his forehead before shaking his head and opening his eyes. "Just something that came over me… Haven't had one of those in years…"

Heero moved back to his lover and gently started massaging Duo's shoulders. "Something what?"

"Most likely a presence… A ghost if you'd like…" Shaking his head, Duo looked down at the soapy sink. "I think someone nearby just died…"

Heero's eyebrows raised themselves up and his hands stopped the movements. "Are… Are you sure?"

Duo shook his head. "Not a hundred percent, but I've had this feeling few times, many years ago and then it was always someone near me that had died," he murmured before shaking his head again. "Don't think about it, Heero… As cruel as I may sound when saying this, it's probably been an accident or someone nearby has died, either by the hands of others, themselves or natural. It felt peaceful, though unwelcome on my part, so I think it was the latter…"

"Should we call the hospital or the police," Heero asked while turning his lover around so they were face to face.

Duo shook his head. "We better not. If we call and say that someone died, but we're not sure where, they'll start asking questions in which I have no answers for."

Heero nodded and moved to kiss Duo's forehead. "I take it you've done it before?"

Duo chuckled a little and nodded. "I was a suspect in a case once because I called the police about it. The spirit had felt troubled so I reported it as a possible murder. I didn't believe I would actually be right about it, it had just been a feeling."

Heero chuckled while taking over the dishwashing for Duo. "I can imagine that it was… Awkward. On both sides."

Duo grinned and nodded. "Yes, it was. But they found out that I lived over an hour away from the victim and that I called from my house. When they examined the body, they learned that it had been killed like… 5 minutes after my call, so there was no way they could attach me to the murder. They thought maybe I had a partner, but when they presented us, theguy was like "who's the hottie" while I only blushed from his reply. I took a polio graph test and… Well… In the end, I was free to go."

"And when you became known through the news, I can imagine that they felt sheepish," Heero half asked, half stated while drying the dishes and put them away.

"Not really," Duo replied. "The cops and the media's always been sceptic to the supernatural and I doubt it's gonna change anything soon. But as long as I can be useful, I am happy," he murmured.

Heero smiled at that and carefully pecked Duo's cheek, letting his lips linger on the soft skin. "You truly are an amazing person… Why are you in my life?"

"To bring a little sunshine into it," Duo teased, only to have Heero attack his neck with savage kisses. Laughing, Duo squirmed in Heero's arms, trying to get free. "Hey, hey, hey, stop that!!"

"Why," Heero growled against Duo's neck, giving it a teasing nip.

"Because I just sensed someone nearby dying?" Duo asked and tried to look upset, but failing since his lips refused to remain downwards.

"All the more reason for me to whisk you off and lavish you with attention until you are happy again," Heero grinned before lifting Duo up from the ground. "That is… If fate wants me to?"

Duo grinned before letting his gaze glaze over and his mouth hung open. "Fate commands you to take this man into the bedroom and have your wicked way with him until he screams for mercy," he said in a deep, tone-less voice before grinning. "See? Fate approves."

Heero grinned and started walking towards the bedroom. "Then who am I to go against fate?"

xoxoxoxoxoxox

"I can assure you, ma'am, you future daughter in law will make your son very happy." Duo smiled at the woman sitting on his couch, getting an odd sense of déjà vu. He felt like he was sitting on so much information that he couldn't reveal. "The wedding will be a beautiful one," he concluded and started gathering up the cards he'd been using.

The woman didn't look convinced, but whatever she was thinking, she was hiding it. Duo was glad that her thoughts didn't leak out of her head and into his. Then he would be walking around with a migraine from hell and way too many questions.

"Is there anything else you would like to know, ma'am? You still have 15 minutes." Duo started shuffling the cards while looking at her, crossing his legs as he did so.

The woman shook her head and got up. "No, that will be fine, thank you," she said and picked up her wallet to pay Duo his fee.

Duo accepted and smiled while leading her out. "You're welcome back at any time, ma'am," he smiled while waving her out before closing the door. Letting out a breath of air, Duo shook his head and walked back to the living room to clean up. "But you could do with less perfume. And a better attitude," he mumbled while stacking the cards away for now. He had fifteen minutes before the next client would arrive. Just enough time for a nice cup of coffee and a small break.

Watching the coffee brew after starting the machine, Duo read over the newspaper, paying close attention to the "deceased-pages". He winced a little as he read that an elderly lady in his neighbourhood had passed away in her sleep. "Well… At least she didn't suffer," he murmured while pouring himself a cup, sighing as the bitter taste of coffee filled his mouth as he took the first sip.

Looking up as his doorbell started ringing, Duo frowned a little before putting his mug down and walked to the door. Opening it, Duo stared at the young woman on the other side. "… Can I help you, ma'am?"

The woman nodded, her honey-blond hair moving as she did so. "Yes. I am here for a session. Sorry that I am early, but… I have an important appointment so…"

Duo frowned a little before nodding and opening the door, gesturing for her to enter. "Well, you are in luck," he murmured and smiled. "I just finished with a client so I should be able to do you now. Just… Let me drink up my coffee will you?" he asked and chuckled, making the young woman laugh.

"Oh, by all means," she murmured. "I am sure your… Psychic powers need a little rest, hmmm?"

Duo smiled and nodded, but felt his skin crawl. 'Great… Another non-believer… Geez, why the hell do they come when they don't even believe,' he thought while grabbing his coffee. "Well, have a seat, ma'am and yes, you may use my bathroom. It's over there," he said while sipping on the hot liquid, gesturing to the bathroom with his free hand.

The woman stared and Duo just smiled calmly at her. 'In your face,' he thought while watching her nod and move towards the bathroom. 'And no amount of rouge can save your cheek-bones, hon,' he added mentally before snickering.

Regaining his composure as soon as the woman came out from the bathroom, cheeks slightly redder than earlier, Duo smiled and gestured for her to have a seat. "Now… What can I do for you? You were very secretive on the phone."

The woman couldn't help but smirk. "Why don't use your powers and find out?"

Duo chuckled a little and smiled. "Should have seen that one coming…" Taking a deep breath, Duo readied a speech he'd needed to tell one time too many. "Ma'am… I am a physic. But that doesn't mean I can see absolutely everything that'll happen in the future. If I could, I would have quit my job and gone to buy a lottery ticket instead. These sorts of powers are very difficult to control and predict, they almost come and go as they please. But my little eye is always open."

The woman raised an eyebrow. "Your little eye?"

Duo chuckled and nodded. "Yes, my little eye. My sixth sense. It's what I use when I read cards, hands and all that stuff. I call it my little eye since it is a very small part of the greater all-seeing eye inside me."

"I see." The woman still didn't look convinced, but Duo wasn't about to argue with her. "Now… If you insist…" Pulling out a deck of normal playing cards, Duo shuffled them before placing a few cards outside. "… You come from a wealthy family… They are still supporting you, as you have no income of your own at the moment. You were recently fired." Duo looked up at the woman and smirked when seeing her blush. 'Gothcha.' Letting his eyes land on the cards again, he continued. "Hmm… The reason why you are here is because… You need help. You need to…" Duo frowned a little and closed his eyes as he focused. "… Forgive me if I am wrong, but… You want my help to… Get something out of your house?"

The woman nodded and sat up more straight. "Yes. I own a house just outside the city. I recently bought it and ever since I took over it I have been bothered by strange noises, broken items and situations I cannot explain. I haven't stayed the night because… I get a feeling that I am not welcome there. Frankly, I haven't spent much time in the house at all, but all the contractors that I've hired to fix up the house have fled after a short amount of time, refusing to tell me why. The house is… Still in a horrible condition, dust and mess everywhere, but with some work it will be lovely."

Duo waved his hand and sighed a little. "Please, ma'am… Get to your point?"

The woman frowned a little before crossing one leg over the other. "Very well… Mister Maxwell. I believe my house is haunted, by an entity."

Duo stared at the woman for a while, blinking. "… Haunted…"

The woman nodded. "Yes, haunted. By a ghost, spirit, entity, whatever you guys call it. I own a haunted house and I want you to de-haunt it."

Duo sighed a little and rubbed his forehead, leaving the cards on the table for now. "Ma'am… I am not the Ghost Busters. I cannot just walk in there and tell it to leave. I don't even deal with ghosts, I deal with the future and the occasional lost person."

"But… I got such good recommendations from you," the woman started, making Duo look at the woman with an intense look.

"… From who?"

The woman shuffled through her purse for a few seconds before picking up a small organiser. "I already have a person by my house, a woman. She said she couldn't do this on her own as her powers were limited, but she said she could help me if I contacted you."

"Yes, yes, but from who," Duo asked again.

"A… Hilde Schebeiker."

Duo cursed and looked at the floor. "… Great…"

The woman blinked. "… You… Two not speaking?"

Duo shook his head. "No, it's just… Never mind. Just… What does Schebeiker want me to do?"

The woman scratched her head and put the organizer back into the purse. "She didn't really explain it to me. Something about… Helping her locate the ghost."

Duo nodded and rubbed his forehead. "… Ma'am… I… I can't really do this, my abilities are highly unpredictable, I cannot guarantee anything on that aspect."

"I will pay you well," the woman quickly said. "I will pay you 5000 dollars for getting rid of the ghost."

Duo gaped and stared at her. "F-five? Thousand? Lady, are you out of your mind, that's a shitload of money and I really cannot guarantee that I can do anything and-"

The woman lifted her hand and shook her head. "Please, I don't want to hear about this. Do you accept the job? I will pay you 2500 dollars in advance and that money is yours to keep, even if you can't find anything. The rest I will pay you after the job is done. Do you accept?"

Duo sighed a little and shrugged. "I'd be a fool not to accept, but… Please. Remember this. I can't guarantee anything. Nothing. I will try my best, I'll use all the abilities I can, but that's all I can do. Do you understand?"

The woman nodded, obviously pleased with Duo's answer. "I understand and that is acceptable."

Duo nodded, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. This just had to be one of the craziest things he'd ever gotten his hands on. This woman, a non-believer, came here with a haunted house that she wanted him to cleanse and not only that… She had one physic person on her property already and was hiring another one for an insane amount of money. 'This just has to be a dream… Or my sixth sense has finally made me crazy. Yup, Duo go looney,' Duo thought before moving to gather his cards from the table. "So, will that be a-…" Blinking a little, Duo stared down at the cards.

The woman tilted her head. "Is everything okay?"

Duo nodded and picked up one of the cards. "Yes… But… Forgive me, but… Are you searching for something or someone..?"

The woman gasped, her eyes wide. "How did you-?"

Duo couldn't help the smirk. "I am psychic, remember."

"Right, right…" The woman nodded and located her purse. "Yes… Yes, I am. I am looking for someone. A man. My ex-fiancée."

Duo nodded and gathered the card back, shuffling them while staring at the woman. "Forgive me if I am wrong, but… I am sensing something from you now… A hope… That I can find him and bring you two together?"

The woman didn't answer, she just continued to rummage around in her purse. Duo sighed a little and shook his head. "Ma'am… I am not a magician. I don't make love-potions or stuff like that, nor can I cast hexes, curses… I can merely predict the future and certain events. I can find this person, yes, but I cannot make him fall in love with you or anything like that."

"I am fully aware of that, Mister Maxwell. That you find him will be enough for me. If you can do it, that is," the woman answered before holding up a photo. "This is the man I want you to find."

Duo looked at the photo and felt his eyes widen. "Ma'am…"

The woman looked at him with a curious look. "Is it not enough? Do you need a possession that belongs to him? Oh, perhaps his name-"

Duo held up his hand and closed his eyes, silencing her. "… The photo is fine… And I have no need for a name…" Swallowing a little, Duo stared at the familiar face, recognising the wild, brown hair and deep, Prussian blue eyes. "… Ma'am… You don't have to look far to find this man…"

The woman perked up and stared at Duo. "Really? Where can I find him, does he live nearby?"

Duo nodded and picked the photo up before handing it back to the woman. "… The man lives nearby, yes… In fact, he'll come through my door-" Duo stopped and started counting down before nodding. "Now."

On cue, Heero opened the door and called out "Duo, I am home."

The woman got up onto her feet and smiled. "Heero!"

Heero's eyes widened and he actually backed into the now closed front door, searching for the doorknob. Duo got up and walked over to his lover before gesturing to the woman by the couch. "Heero… This woman is searching for you…"

The woman frowned and looked at Duo. "Do you know Heero?"

Duo nodded and shrugged, like it wasn't such a big deal. "Yes. He's my roommate and my lover. May I ask how you know him?"

Heero grunted a little and placed a hand on Duo's hip. "… Isn't it obvious? … Remember the woman that crushed my heart? … Meet Relena Peacecraft. My ex-fiancée."

xoxoxoxoxo

_Author's Notes: I am sure this is very unexpected. It certainly was for me. XD Anyway, this is… A little different from the first story, a little more serious and with a deeper look-in at what it takes to be a physic and a "Ghost Busters". Hope you'll enjoy!_


	2. Chapter 2

**Illusions**

Oooooh, action already? I amaze myself. How will Heero get himself out of this pinch? And just what is it that Relena want?

… Well… Except getting her house de-haunted. And just who is Hilde?

xoxoxoxox

Heero grunted a little and placed a hand on Duo's hip. "… Isn't it obvious? … Remember the woman that crushed my heart? … Meet Relena Peacecraft. My ex-fiancée."

Duo gave Heero a small, but hidden pinch at the back of the male's neck while forcing up a small smile. This was more awkward than the time he'd gotten a vision about one of his teacher's banging the lunch-lady in the janitors' closet. He hadn't been able to look them in the eyes after that.

"I've kinda figured," he ended up saying, not quite knowing what to do with himself. Now he was certain that the "higher powers" were laughing their asses off at his expense.

Meanwhile Relena had gotten a face that would best be described as a perfect visual of someone who'd just devoured an entire lemon. "… Heero? What is going on?"

Heero sighed and tightened the hold he had on Duo. "Relena… Meet Duo Maxwell. Fortune-teller and psychic,and also my lover."

"I don't need a further introduction, Heero. I think she's kinda figured that out by now..."

Heero gave Duo a look before sighing and nodding before releasing his lover. "… Listen, let's just cut this short, okay? No, I haven't forgiven you. No, I don't remember the "special" things we shared. No, I don't wanna give you a second chance." Giving Relena a look that clearly said, "This discussion is over", Heero tugged off his tie and tossed it towards the kitchen table. "I'm going out for a drive. Don't make dinner, I'll bring home some take-out."

Duo gave Heero a look before wincing and nodding. Heero was so upset now that the male's feelings and thoughts were jumping into his head. "You do that," he murmured while rubbing his forehead. "Bring home some Thai, okay? You know what happens with the Mexican food."

Heero gave Duo a concerned look before nodding. Tilting his lover's head up, he gave him a small kiss before offering a smile. "I'll see you in a little while…"

Duo nodded and offered a strained smile back before Heero left. Breathing out as the pounding in his head eased up, Duo gave Relena a look as well. "… Was there anything else I could help you with, ma'am?"

Relena shook her head and frowned before rummaging through her purse again. "No, that will be all, Mr. Maxwell. You have helped me enough," she answered, sarcasm dripping from her voice. Duo resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"Now, about the house… Can you be there tomorrow at 4?"

Duo rubbed his forehead and nodded. "Sure… Shouldn't be a problem."

Relena nodded and handed Duo a small business card. "If you cannot make it, call me. And… If Heero wishes to talk, he can use the same number."

Duo nodded and accepted the card, pocketing it while watching the woman get her coat. "I'll be there, ma'am. Hopefully there won't be any problems at the house," he said while opening the door for her. Relena just nodded before stepping outside, hurrying down the hall as if to get away from the apartment as quick as possible.

Duo rolled his eyes, and closed and locked the door. "You won't catch him," he mumbled before sighing and walking to the kitchen. He needed some strong tea.

About an hour later Heero came back from his trip, carrying bags with food from a near-by take-out restaurant. "Duo? Are you here?"

A lazy hand appeared from behind the couch, since Heero could only see the back of the couch from his spot by the front door, and waved. "Right here, love…"

Heero grunted and kicked off his shoes before walking over to the couch to have a look. "… Rough day?"

Duo let his hand drop back down, resting it over his eyes. He was laying on his back, one foot dangling over the edge of the couch along with his other arm while the other was bended by the knee. "… Rough lady… Can understand why you left her…"

Heero shrugged and unpacked the bags onto the living room table, not bothering to find any plates for their food. They could eat is straight from the cartons and the restaurant had given them both chopsticks and plastic utensils so he didn't have to fetch that.

Sitting up, Duo rubbed his eyes before inhaling the scent coming from the food. "Mm… What did you get?"

"Thai. Just like you wanted, love." Heero gave his lover a small smile before sitting down next to him, handing him some chopsticks and one of the cartons. "Fried noodles with mushroom, shrimp and beef."

"My favourite." Smiling, Duo gave Heero a kiss before taking and opening the carton with food. "Thank you, Heero."

Heero smiled back and gave Duo a kiss on the cheek before picking up his own food. "You're welcome. We deserve a little… Extra today, wouldn't you say?"

Duo snorted and munched on a shrimp. "No shit. I can't believe that I didn't see this coming. I mean, it's a huge deal. Your ex-fiancée coming to see me of all people. And she was searching for you! Man, I bet the higher powers are just laughing their divine asses off right now."

Heero snorted while swirling some noodles onto his chopsticks before eating it. "No shit. I can't believe that she thought that I would just forgive her after the way she treated me."

Duo nodded and offered a small smile to his lover. "Well, what you choose to do is up to you. She holds no power over you, and neither do I."

Heero smiled back before leaning over and pressed his lips to Duo's cheek. "You do hold power over me… The good, intoxicating kind… I am right where I wanna be…"

Duo just chuckled and smiled happily before going back to eating his food. His head was still pounding from the burst of emotion from earlier, but it was easing up now.

"So who is this Hilde… Sheiker anyway?"

Duo snorted and sat the half-eaten food down onto the table before relaxing further against the couch, rubbing his temples. "Hilde Schebeiker. She's a psychic like me, but… She is very… Special."

"Special?" Heero frowned and moved to his lover, swatting his hands away so he could take over the massage after he'd put his own food down onto the table. Duo happily let him, closing his eyes and sighing.

"Yes. She's the real deal, but her powers are very unpredictable. So in the end, she's playing fraud. She takes rich clients, trick them into believing their house is haunted and in the end runs of with an item like a jewel or a TV by saying that the ghost is attached to the item and she needs to destroy it."

"So she's a fraud."

Duo shrugged. "As I said, she's the real deal, but she figured that hunting down ghosts for a living was to tiring. Not to mention dangerous. My guess is that she's trying to trick your ex now. Least I can do is check the situation out."

Heero grunted and wrapped an arm around Duo's shoulders, tugging him close against him. "Can't you let her trick Relena? She deserves it."

Duo snorted and leaned against his lover. "Sorry, mate. My conscience tells me that it's a bad thing so I must prevent it. Besides, it might be that Hilde has gotten herself into something she can't handle. Just because she's a… Well, fraud, it doesn't mean that she doesn't try and help people when she can. She's like Robin Hood, steals from the rich and gives to the poor. … In this case herself. Well, she donates as well so she's not all bad."

Heero shook his head and sighed before kissing Duo's cheek, nuzzling his nose against the spot. "How do you know her anyway?"

Duo snorted and rolled his eyes. "We used to work together. Our partnership lasted for about a month before I'd had enough of her scams. Besides, she almost had me killed when she used me as bait to lure out a demon in a house. And I don't do demons. Ever. I leave that to the priests."

Heero raised an eyebrow. "Demons?"

Duo nodded before getting up from the couch, walking over to his "work-shelf" and looked over the books there. "Demons. You know, the Devil's lackeys. Evil spirits. Demons." Finding the book he was searching for, Duo started flipping through the pages before walking back to the couch and sat down onto Heero's lap. "Here. Read."

Heero wrapped one arm around his lover's waist and used the other to hold the book. "Demons. In religion, folklore, and mythology a demon is a supernatural being that has generally been described as a malevolent spirit, and in Christian terms it is generally understood as a Fallen angel, formerly of God. A demon is frequently depicted as a force that may be conjured and insecurely controlled."

Duo pressed his finger to a paragraph further down. "There."

Heero raised an eyebrow and read on. "The person performing the exorcism, known as an exorcist, is often a priest or an individual thought to be graced with special powers or skills. The exorcist may use prayers, and religious material, such as set formulas, gestures, symbols, icons, amulets, and so on. The exorcist invokes God and/or several different angels and archangels. The priest also uses crosses and holy water often when performing one. In general, possessed persons are not regarded as evil in themselves, nor wholly responsible for their actions. Therefore, exorcism is generally thought more as a cure than as a punishment." He raised an eyebrow. "There are books on this stuff?"

Duo nodded and took the book from Heero's hand. "You have no idea. I have every book there is about demons, angels, ghosts, exorcisms, psychic powers and so on. I am pretty sure I have "The Black Bible" in there somewhere, but haven't really studied it. It was a part of the "psychic" pack."

Heero snorted. "So no satanic rituals for you then?"

Duo grimaced. "No, definitely not. There are enough spirits running around without me helping bringing more into the world. You have no idea how stupid kids can be about this stuff, performing these rituals right and center and then have the nerve of being surprised when the stuff actually works."

Heero chuckled a little and nuzzled Duo's neck. "It's all about the curiosity you have when you're young, I suppose…"

Duo nodded and leaned against Heero's chest after placing the book onto the table for now. "Unfortunately, yes… But some things people really should stay away from…"

Heero smirked and kissed Duo's jaw. "But then you would be without a job."

Duo raised an eyebrow and used his foot to kick Heero's foot. "I just told you, I don't do exorcisms. Yes, I can ban a ghost, but that's more of a… Helping the spirit pass over to the other side. Most ghosts are here because they have unfinished business and I can help them with that. I just help them to find the light. But an exorcisms? No way, no how. My powers are too weak for that."

Heero chuckled a little, ignoring his now slightly aching foot. "You don't give yourself enough credit, love. You have great powers."

Duo snorted and leaned more firmly against Heero's chest, shifting a little so he was sitting sideways on his lover's lap instead. "There's a difference between seeing the future and telling a ghost to go away."

"And what is the difference?" Heero gave Duo a curious look. "Exactly what do you do to get rid of a ghost?"

Duo bit his lip before shaking his head. "Okay, so… Banning a ghost has more to do with mental strength than anything else, but it's the contact between the person and the ghost that's important. You hafta get a contact, a link between you in order to communicate with it. If you get a violent one, then you can ban it with prayer, incense, even symbols. It depends on what kind of ghost you're dealing with. But the important thing is to be able to find it. Everybody can scream for a ghost to go away, but unless you make contact with the ghost on their level then it's pretty much useless. They live in their own realm, on a level between that of the living and the dead."

"So… The "eye" you use for seeing and reading the future in stuff… Is that the same "eye" you use to find ghost?"

Shaking his head, Duo looked up at the roof. "Well, yes and no… My "eye" is… Well, you can say that my "eye" is all-seeing. It's what I use to open the link to what's beyond human understanding, whether it's the future, the past or a ghost. But I have to use it in two very different ways. It's hard to explain."

Heero shook his head and buried his face in Duo's neck, inhaling the male's scent. "… I'm confused…"

Duo snorted and tilted his head against Heero's, closing his eyes. "What do you think I am? I do this for a living…"

Heero snorted and gave Duo's head a small nudge. "Well, I hope you know what you're doing or you'll get many angry customers at the door."

Duo snorted and smirked. "I haven't been wrong so far, baby."

"I'll take your word for it," Heero grunted before hugging Duo close to himself, inhaling his lover's sweet scent. "So 4 tomorrow, huh?"

"Mhm," Duo murmured and sighed a little. "4pm."

"I'll come home early so I can come with you," Heero murmured while flexing his thumb over Duo's stomach. "There is no way I am letting you be alone with her."

Duo snorted and grinned while placing his hands over Heero's own hands. "Come on, it's the ghost that's dangerous, not her."

"Obviously you haven't met my ex-fiancée," Heero grunted and tightened his hold. "She is far more dangerous than a ghost. … And way harder to get rid off."

Duo chuckled before leaning his head against Heero's. They both turned silent, just enjoying each other's presence. There was simply no need for words right now.

"… Heero?"

"Hn?"

"If you can prevent it, don't drink the coffee tomorrow. There will be a huge line outside the bathrooms."

"Because of the coffee?"

"That girl at the second floor, the one with the bright red hair? She made it."

"Hn… Thanks for the warning."

"You're welcome."

xoxoxoxoxox

_Author's Notes: Yup, another chapter done and over with. I am no closer to knowing where the hell I am going with this, so it's still very exciting for me._

_Stay tuned!_

http://en. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Illusions**

New chapter! This one is a bit longer than the previous ones, but I couldn't find a good spot to cut. So I hope it won't be too much trouble.

Oh, and for those of you who wondered about the underlines on some of the words… ; It's nothing, don't think about it. It was just me forgetting to remove them after my Beta finished betaing the chapter. So it's not a secret code or anything.

xoxoxoxox

Removing the sunglasses as he stepped out of the car, Duo let out a whistle as he took in the large mansion. "Damn…"

Heero grunted as he got out from the driver's seat and closed the door. A quick push to the button on the keychain and the car was locked. "Someone's been going at a shopping-spree again. My wallet hurts just by the memory."

Duo snorted and shook his head before he started walking towards the mansion.

The building was huge, five storages high and build in a classical Romanian Gothic style. The whole building was grey, probably from weather and wear and tear from over the years, but the magnificent pride of the building was still there. Duo felt incredibly small as he stared up at the building. The garden was huge as well, but very overgrown with weed and different types of wild plants. Duo had no doubt that with a little love and care, the garden would be beautiful. "… How come all these old houses are in the middle of no-where? Doesn't anybody watch horror movies anymore? These places are guaranteed to be haunted or a killer's gonna visit."

Heero smacked a hand over the back of his lover's head, making him wince. "What? They are!"

Heero just rolled his eyes before shaking his head before walking towards the house. "Come on, Duo. I wanna make sure that you're safe and sound so I can leave this place. I want as much distance between me and Relena as I can."

Duo smirked and followed his lover. "What about me? I'm about to enter the second realm."

Heero smirked. "You'll live."

"I can only hope. I don't deal with ghosts at a normal basis," Duo reminded him while walking towards the front door. Relena Peacecraft was already there, waiting outside the still locked door.

"Mister Maxwell. … Heero. Nice that the two of you could make it. "

Heero just nodded to her while Duo put up a smile and reached out his hand. "I promised I would, ma'am and I don't lie."

Relena just nodded, forcing up a rather tense smile before she fished up some keys from her pocket. "Here it the keys to the mansion. I cannot be here right now, I have a meeting, but I will come around six pm to survey the work the two of you do. Is that alright?"

Duo nodded and accepted the keys, already feeling slightly nauseous as soon as the keys touched his skin. "Yes, that's okay. Should give me some time to just adjust to the setting." Looking around, Duo let his eyes trail over the overgrown garden. "Where is Schebeiker?"

"She's coming soon," Relena said while stepping down from the porch. "She called and told me that she was running late."

"That sounds like her," Duo mumbled and stuffed his hands into his pockets while his gaze was lowered to the ground. He wasn't looking forward to working with her, especially if this turned out to be complete bullshit.

"Did you say something, Mister Maxwell?"

Duo glanced up at the woman again and smiled. "Please, call me Duo. And… I just said that it sounded like Hilde. She's always late no matter what it is," he answered before adding something under his breath. "… Especially if it's a scam."

Then he jumped as the sound of a car's horn echoed through the property, staring owlishly as a black car with jet-red flames painted on the sides came driving up against Heero's own red Toyota. A few minutes later a girl with short black-bluish hair came out of the car and grinned at him.

"Oh, boy…"

Grimacing as the girl put on a black beret on top of her head and adjusted her black jacket, he prepared himself for what was coming.

"Duo Maxwell. I am surprised to see you alive. I was so sure that the ghost we exorcised down at the south-side was going to be the end of you."

Duo raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms while smirking a little. "And whose fault was that? You were the one that ran as soon as it turned a little rough."

Hilde frowned and waved her hand as she walked up to Duo, her free hand on her hip. "The ghost tossed a table after me. Of course, I'll run if I get a table after me."

"And leave me to be choked by a jacket. Gee, thanks Hilde." Shaking his head, Duo poked a finger against her chest. "What are you doing here, Hilde?"

Hilde grinned and gestured to the house. "I am here to ban the ghost. With your help, of course."

Duo raised an eyebrow before smiling at Relena. "Will you excuse us for a moment? We need to talk a little."

Relena nodded before staring as Duo grabbed Hilde's arm and dragged her off towards the cars. "… They don't seem very… Friendly with each other."

Heero just grunted and shrugged while looking at the house, ignoring the faint protest coming from the girl called Hilde as his lover dragged her off.

"Okay, spill it. Why are you here, Hilde," Duo snarled while releasing her, ignoring the pout he got from her as she rubbed her arm.

"You have a firm grip, Duo. Have you been working out," Hilde asked in a slightly sour voice, earning a groan from the braided man.

"Hilde, don't change the subject! Why are you here?! Is this another scam?!"

"Actually," Hilde said slowly while looking towards the house. "… It's not. Trust me, I would love for this to be utter bullshit, but it's not."

Duo just stared at her with his arms crossed and his foot tapping against the ground. "So spill. How the hell did you find out about this place?"

"She called me," Hilde replied and pointed at Relena. "She told me she had problems with her house and I accepted the mission."

"She called you," Duo repeated. "Are you listed in the yellow-pages or something?" When Hilde grinned sheepishly, Duo just lifted his hand and sighed. "… Don't answer that… Okay… So Miss Peacecraft called you because she had problems with her house… She looked in the yellow-pages for exorcists and she called you… And you accepted…"

Hilde nodded before rubbing her neck in a nervous matter. "Yeah. I thought it would be simple, I've done a few easy ones on my own, but when I got here…" Tossing another look at the house, Duo could swear that the girl looked frightened. "Duo… There's something huge in that house. And it's mean. Evil. Demonic. I don't know, all I know is that when I entered that house and started searching for paranormal traces… I got this sense off… Hate. I was not welcome there. I just wanted to lie down and cry because I felt totally worthless and pathetic."

Duo nodded while looking against the house. He had to admit, he got a feeling from the property as well, but he couldn't place it. "… Then what?"

"I called you," Hilde concluded while shifting her gaze from the house to Duo. "Because this is too huge for me to do alone."

"Why me?" Duo gave her a look. "You know that I don't wanna do this anymore. Not after that time when you bailed out on me, I don't trust you on this shit."

"I know, but…" Hilde looked down and bit her lip. "… Duo, I'm so sorry… I didn't mean to bail out on you, but… I was scared… I didn't know what to do, nothing I did seemed to help… And you are so much stronger than me, I knew you would be able to do it on your own and-"

"Enough!" Duo barked, cutting the sentence off. "Just… I don't want to hear it. Don't spill that 'I am so much weaker than you' bullshit on me, you know that's not true."

"It is," Hilde said and stared into Duo's eyes, pale blue clashing with Cobalt. "Duo… You have no idea how much power that's dormant inside you, I can sense it. Duo… I know you don't trust me, but… You were the only one I could call… The only one I trust…"

Duo sighed and shook his head before glancing towards the house again. "… Okay, let's try it. But if you bail out on me-"

"I won't," Hilde said quickly before giving Duo a hug. "Thank you, Duo… Thank you."

"Yeah, yeah," Duo murmured and patted her back before giving her a small grin. "Come on… Let's check this place out…"

Hilde chuckled and grinned while walking back towards the house. "The terrible two-some is back again," she laughed while Duo rolled his eyes.

Relena raised an eyebrow while locating the key to the house inside her purse. "Is everything okay?"

Duo nodded and smiled. "Everything's cool. We've made a game-plan and we're good to go," he chirped while Relena unlocked the door.

"Excellent. Now… You just… Do what you have to do," Relena replied while putting the key back into her purse and closed it.

Duo nodded to Hilde before pushing the door open. "Well, then. Let's see what we can find."

Hilde nodded before grinning and gestured towards the now open door. "After you, Duo."

Duo rolled his eyes before stepping into the hallway. Whistling, he took a good look around. "Wow… This is impressive. This is just incredible." The hallway was grand, though slightly dusty. Webs were hanging from poles crafted in a Romanian style. At the end of the hall it split up into two grand doors leading to two different rooms as well as a two-way staircase being visible.

Hilde looked around as well before running a finger over the surface of a very dusty table. "Old too. Think there's anything of value here?"

Duo gave her a look. "Don't even think about it, Hilde. We're here to do a job IF there's even a damn ghost here."

Hilde rolled her eyes before lowering her voice so the woman behind them wouldn't hear. "There definitely is a being here. I can't feel it right now, but when that Peacecraft woman let me in here the first time she contacted me… The feeling I got almost made me wanna throw up. I definitely got a feeling that I was not welcome in this house."

Duo looked around as he walked towards the stairs. "I can't feel a thing."

Hilde joined him and looked up the stairs. "Me neither. But it took like… I don't know, ten minutes maybe when I was here the first time."

Duo smirked and placed a hand on a dusted down grandfather's clock that was placed between the two stairs. "Sure it wasn't just an upset stomach?"

The woman glared and stuck an elbow into Duo's side, making him yelp. Relena raised an eyebrow while Heero just shook his head. "… Are you sure they know what they're doing?"

Heero shrugged. "Beats me. This is the first time since I met Duo that he's done a house-call. But he warned you about his powers, so you know what you're paying for."

Relena sent Heero a small glare before crossing her arms and huffing. "You haven't changed at all. Still a cold-hearted bastard."

Heero glared back and crossed his own arms, turning his head away from the woman. "You have no right to talk. Besides, I wasn't the one coming to a physic with a hope that we could come back together."

"Jackass."

"Hag."

"Oh, children."

Looking up at the voice, the two adults stared at a mildly amused Duo. "Are you two done? I would like to look into the rooms here, but it seems like most of the doors are locked. At least according to Hilde."

Relena blinked. "… I unlocked the doors when she came here for the first time…"

Hilde raised an eyebrow and walked over to a closed door, grabbed the handle and pressed it down. "… Locked, miss."

Relena raised her own eyebrow before waving Hilde's hand away from the handle and tried it herself. "Now that is odd," she murmured before shrugging it off and located her keys. "I suppose I forgot a door or two. It is a big house," she added, making Duo want to roll his eyes. What on earth was he doing here when the woman didn't even believe in the stuff?

Unlocking the door, Relena pushed it open and gestured for Duo to enter.

Looking around, Duo whistled and nodded, obviously impressed. "Now this is a livingroom."

The room was coloured in a soft violet colour, with off-white curtains hanging down over the walls in a tasteful fashion. There was huge windows covering one of the walls, but the thing you saw first was the grand fireplace. The room was barely furnished though, the only thing there was an old couch that Duo guessed had been red once, a dusty table and a old-looking piano.

"Where's all the goods?"

Duo gave Hilde a look before mumbling a "Focus on the job" through gritted teeth. Hilde just smirked while walking over to the fireplace.

Heero looked around as well before giving Relena a look. "And you bought this house why?"

"I am planning on renovating and redecorating it before selling it. If I can pull it off, I am promised a job as a redecorator in a very sucessful firm," the woman answered and walked over to one of the drapes handing from the roof, giving it a tug, then coughing as she became covered with dust.

Heero couldn't help the snicker that escaped him before walking over to the large fireplace, running a finger through the dust.

Duo shook his head before looking at the other three people in the room. They might as well get started on this and get it over with. With some luck he would be home in time to disagree with the weatherman on TV. "Okay, here's the idea. Hilde, you take Miss Relena around and have a feel while I take Heero around. Non-psychic people are also sensitive to the presence of spirits and they can be of some use. Let's walk around and just see what we can find."

Hilde nodded and walked over to Relena. "Should we inspect each other's work as well? Make sure that we don't leave anything?"

Duo nodded and walked over to Heero. "Yeah. We'll both inspect the entire area, even if that means that we'll bump into each other. But you can start at the south side of the house and I can do the north. Then we will work our way through there."

Hilde nodded. "Sounds good to me."

"Oh, no no no. I am not staying here. I told you, I have a meeting," Relena said, crossing her arms and huffing.

Duo nodded and waved his hand apologetically. "Right, right. I'm sorry, miss. Then… Heero, can you go with Hilde then? I can walk alone. That way I get to focus while Hilde gets a… Non-spiritual man's opinion, seeing as she has the most… Unpredictable powers out of the two of us."

Heero nodded and walked over to Hilde, who smiled and winked. "Hi, I'm Hilde."

Heero just raised an eyebrow. "… Hi, I'm gay."

"Curses." Pouting, Hilde sighed while Relena rolled her eyes. "Then I'm leaving the house in your hands," she said while tossing Duo the keys. "See you at six," she added before turning around and left.

Duo sighed while catching the keys, already getting a bad feeling from it all. Somehow he doubted he'd be able to get home in time for the weather.

Looking at his companions, he offered a small smile before shrugging. "Well… Let's get to it. Good luck."

Hilde just grinned and eyed Heero, while Heero rolled his eyes and shook his head. This was going to be a long day.

xoxoxoxoxox

Waving a little as they once again met in the grand entrance hold, Duo shrugged and sighed. "Nada. Couldn't sense, see, feel or hear a thing."

Hilde sighed as well and looked disappointed. "Ditto. I went through every knock and cranny, I even crawled into the different walk-in closets around here. Look at what the dust has done to my jeans!"

Duo snorted and gave her a grin while Heero walked over to his lover. "You didn't find anything?"

"You don't exactly find a ghost, Heero," Duo quipped while placing his hands on his hips. "It's more something you sense. And I didn't sense anything, at least nothing out of the ordinary. This is just a very dusty and old house."

"Mansion," Hilde corrected while brushing off her jeans. "But it's so strange… I know what I felt when I was here the first time… Why isn't it here now?"

"Maybe you scared it away." Duo grinned while Hilde just gave him a glare.

"Oh, can it, Maxwell. I know what I felt!"

Duo just grinned at her after sticking his tongue out just as Relena came back in. Yelping as Heero nudged his side, Duo placed his hand over the spot before glancing over at the woman. "Oh, hi. Didn't see you coming, Miss Relena."

"Obviously," Relena replied dryly before looking around. "Well?"

"Well what?"

"What did you find?"

"Well…" Duo glanced over at Hilde before smiling sheepishly. "We didn't find anything. Anything out of the ordinary anyway."

Relena raised an eyebrow. "You found nothing?"

Duo nodded and pocketed his hands. "That's what I said. We didn't find anything."

Duo could swear that there was steam coming out of the woman's nose. "You were here for hours and you didn't find anything?! Are you completely incompetent?!"

"Ma'am," Duo started, but Heero cut in and glared at the woman. "You haven't changed a bit, have you? Duo warned you that his powers were highly unpredictable and that he may not be able to find anything. And maybe there wasn't anything to find!"

"There's something here," Relena spat and glared at Heero. "Something has chased away all of my workers and miss Schebeiker said she too felt something!"

"It could have been a coincidence. A different feeling. Maybe she picked it up from long distance," Duo pointed out. "Powers like these are very unpredictable and-"

"Don't give me any excuses! I want results!"

Duo gave Relena a look before shaking his head. "Okay. Okay, if you want results, I will give you results. This is how I see it… We have three options here. Either me and Hilde suck and we can't pick up shit. Or the ghosts have taken a… Day off. Gone off on a vacation, I hear the Bermuda Triangle is lovely at this time of year."

Heero gave Duo a look, making the man wave his hands apologetically. "Sorry… Anyway, the third and most likely choice is that there's nothing here."

Hilde shook her head and grabbed Duo's arm, yanking it. "No, there is something here! Duo, I know what I felt and I felt a strong hatred! Something in this house did not want me here!"

Duo gently pried away the woman's hand and rubbed the now slightly aching spot. "Are you sure you didn't suffer an upset stomach?"

Hilde punched his arm and glared. "I know what I felt, Maxwell!"

Relena sighed and shook her head. "Mister Maxwell… Maybe if you just took another trip around the house-"

Duo shook his head. "Miss, I don't think that'll change anything. I have walked these halls a thousand times, I spent ages trying to pick things up and the only thing I got was visions I really didn't need to see."

Relena raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"

Duo actually blushed a little before clearing his throat and turning his face away from the woman. "… The neighbor is the one that's running off with your paper. Heero, don't drink the coffee tomorrow, it'll give people diarrhea again and Hilde… Hope you have some tampons on you... You're due in about… Two hours."

Hilde's eyes widened and she blushed, Heero raised an eyebrow while Relena just spluttered. "Mister Maxwell, are you joking?!"

"Wish I was," Duo mumbled before clearing his throat again. "Anyway, back to the houses since I have no real desire to know when a woman's period is starting… My point is… There's nothing here. Except cockroaches and rats. Probably bats too."

Relena sighed and stepped up to Duo. "Mister Maxwell… Wouldn't you please take another round? Just to make sure?"

Duo lifted his hands and shook his head again. "Ma'am, with all due respect, I doubt that'll work. I have walked around this place for over three hours now, I have inspected and sniffed at every corner, I have visited each room, hall and bathroom three times since they say "three times is a charm" and since the Chinese word for four also happens to mean death, then I don't really wanna tempt faith. I have called for them mentally, I have stretched my powers as far as I can. Frankly, the only thing I haven't tried is bellowing out for them to show themselves."

As three sets of eyes attached themselves to him, Duo shivered before he groaned. "You guys gotta be shitting me!"

Hilde smirked a little and crossed her arms. "Can't hurt."

Relena nodded and glanced over at Heero. "It's worth a try."

Heero edged away from Relena and stuck his hands into his pockets. "Don't look at me. I was straight and a non-believer just six months ago, I have no idea how this shit work."

Duo sighed and rubbed his forehead. "…Seriously… I have my doubts that any ghosts, ghouls, demons or whatever's gonna come just because I yell after them…"

Hilde shrugged and looked around the house again. "Well, it can't hurt. If anything, they'll know we're here."

Duo raised an eyebrow and stared at the woman. "… How do you know there's more than one?"

Hilde waved him off. "Women's intuition. Now, use your voice, honey, while I take a feel around."

Duo sighed before sticking his hands into his pockets. Blowing some hair out of his face, he closed his eyes before taking a deep breath. "IS THERE ANYBODY IN THIS HOUSE THAT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HERE?!"

The sudden wind that blew through the hallway they were standing in was highly unexpected, as was the feeling of hatred that went through everybody's bodies. But most unwelcome was the sudden jab of pain that suddenly went through Duo's body, leaving him gaping and wide-eyed, unable to utter a sound before he was sent crashing into the wall as if he'd been hit by a car.

xoxoxoxox

_Authors Note: Oooh, what's happening now? Just what did Hilde feel that time she was there? What chased away Relena's workers and just what flung Duo into the wall just now? Stay tuned and you may find out!_

_Reviews are a happy thing. _


	4. Chapter 4

**Illusions **

I am very very sorry for any lack of updates over the last month. My computer decided to crash on me when I was going to reinstall it and I only recently got it back. X.x

Also, I'm in the middle of my exams, something that's REALLY killing my inspiration. I write a little everyday, but it's slow work. So for that, I am sorry. Hopefully a little longer chapter will be enough to make you forgive me.

xoxoxoxox

The sudden wind that blew through the hallway they were standing in was highly unexpected, as was the feeling of hatred that went through everybody's bodies. But most unwelcome was the sudden jab of pain that suddenly went through Duo's body, leaving him gaping and wide-eyed, unable to utter a sound before he was sent crashing into the wall as if he'd been hit by a car.

Hilde and Relena let out a scream as Duo hit the wall while Heero's eyes widened as he ran towards his lover, catching him as Duo's body bounced off the wall and was aiming for the floor. Managing to catch him before he fell, Heero cradled Duo close while looking around. "What the hell was that?!"

Duo groaned while his hands gripped at Heero's shirt, his eyes still closed. "Ugh… Did anybody get the number on that truck?"

"Duo!" Carefully shifting Duo's body so he could be held with just one arm, Heero used the other to gently cup Duo's cheek and look him over. "Duo, are you okay?!"

Duo nodded and opened his eyes, looking a bit dazed and shell-shocked. "Yeah… Yeah, I'm fine… My head and back hurts and I think I soiled myself, but I'm okay."

"Hah! Told you something was here!" Hilde looked a mix of scared and proud, her small body shaking with fear.

Relena looked just as surprised, clinging her purse to her chest while her knees were shaking.

"Hurray," Duo replied sarcastically, groaning a little as Heero helped him to his feet, his knees almost buckling. Placing a hand to the small of his back, Duo straightened up before leaning heavily against his lover. "Okay… So there is something here and it clearly doesn't want us here. … Or me. Same shit. The problem we have now is how to deal with it. It didn't seem to be in the mood for talking."

Hilde nodded while Heero raised an eyebrow. "Why are you calling it "it"? Can't you feel what gender it… Was?"

Duo shook his head, his face still pulled into a pained expression. "No. 's too early for me to find out. It's masking it's precence pretty darn well."

"Wonderful…" Heero rolled his eyes and shook his head while wrapping a supportive arm around Duo's waist, helping him up properly. "If that's the case, we're getting out of here."

"I can't," Duo bit out and glared at his lover. "I promised your ex that I would help if something was here and Duo Maxwell never lies."

"Well, that moto of yours can get you killed now and I won't let that happen!"

"Killed? The spirit is just a little angry, me and Hilde will calm it down."

"Woah!" Hilde broke into the conversation, shaking her head. "I ain't staying here, I don't have a deathwish!"

"Who said anything about death?!"

"Duo, you were flying through the room and into the wall!"

"Thank you for reminding me, lover," Duo replied dryly while rubbing his temples. This was giving him a headache. "Can we just relax? You're over-reacting, Heero. Lets… Lets calm down, have a seat somewhere and just… Take it easy. This whole shit is giving me the headache of a lifetime."

Heero just grunted before glaring at his ex-fiancée obviously blaming her for the whole ordeal. "Fine fine… But we're not talking in here."

"I can live with that," Duo replied before starting to walk towards the exit, his legs still shaky. Heero helped, keeping a secure arm around his lover's waist as they walked. Hilde followed as well, tugging with her a shocked Relena Peacecraft by the arm.

Sighing happily as he was lead outside, feeling as if a dark feeling inside him was easing up, Duo walked over to the cars and sat down onto the hood of Heero's car. Heero remained beside him, carefully rubbing his lover's side while giving him concerned looks. Relena seemed to calm down as well as soon as she got outside, but she still looked terrified. Hilde seemed more at ease, but she kept tossing nervous glances at the house.

"I've never experienced something like that," she mumbled, earning a glare from Duo.

"'s because you run away each time you run into trouble," he grunted while continuing to rub his temples.

"I do not," Hilde yelled and took a step towards the braided man, only to be stopped by Heero.

"Yelling and casting blame or whatever we are doing won't solve anything! I don't understand half of what's going on, all I know is that my lover was flung into the wall by something I wasn't able to see and I don't like it one fucking bit!"

"Easy on the language, lover," Duo grunted while using his fingers to massage his temples. "And can the owners of the following emotions; anger, fright, frustration and panic please put a damper on them? They are making my head hurt and is leaving me with a desire to beat somebody before running away in fear, not to mention that I am feeling sick to my stomach, I feel nauseated and I wanna cry!"

Heero blinked and turned to look at Duo, who at that moment started crying. "Duo? Are you okay?"

Duo shook his head and covered his face with his hands, his shoulders shaking as he let out loud sobs. "It's not me, it's the house. I am just so damn sad and I don't know why."

Heero carefully wrapped a shoulder around Duo's shoulders and pulled him into a hug, trying his best to offer some comfort. "Hilde, what's wrong with him?"

"Erm…" Hilde scratched her head before using the same hand to gesture to the house. "Well, Duo's sensitive to strong emotions and no emotion is stronger than the one of a ghost. After all, most spirits remain in the realm of the living because they're either unable to let something go, or because of a powerful emotion. Like sorrow, anger, love."

"How come you ain't crying," Heero asked while rubbing his hand over Duo's back, trying his best to soothe the cries. He had never seen Duo cry and he hated it. He never wanted to make Duo cry.

"I guess I am not as… Sensitive as Duo is," Hilde said, then chuckled as Duo sniffled and removed a hand from his face long enough to flip Hilde the bird. "You know what I mean, Duo."

"Good, then he can explain it to me when we go home," Heero mumbled while wrapping his arms tightly around Duo who was finally able to calm down.

"Hey!"

Heero and Hilde blinked before turning to look at Relena who finally seemed to be waking up. "… Yes," Heero answered slowly while releasing Duo so he could wipe his face.

"What about my house?!"

"What about it?"

Relena glared. "He was supposed to clean my house!"

Heero glared back and put a hand on Duo's hip. "Hire a cleaning staff, tear the house down, demolish it, I don't really give a fuck! I am not letting Duo go to a house that seemed to be ready to make him a permanent ornament of the damn wall!!"

Relena started spluttering, her face turning red with anger, while Heero just glared at her. Duo let out a groan again and looked like he was becoming sick. "Guys…"

"What?!" Relena barked and glared at the braided man, visibly unsatisfied.

Duo just glared back at her. "… I gave you my word that I will try my best to get rid of the… Thing that's in your house… Now that we've… Confirmed that something is indeed in there, Hilde and I can start working on a plan to have it removed. In return, I will not have you insulting or disturbing us in our work!" Straightening up, but still looking a bit green, Duo placed his hands on his hips. "I will return home for tonight. God knows I need a while to regain my strength after that surprise, but I will return tomorrow before noon, with equipment."

Both Heero and Relena raised an eyebrow, looking a bit surprised, but only Relena voiced her thoughts. "Equipment? Like a cage of some sort or a machine?"

Duo shook his head and sighed, rolling his eyes. "Ma'am, please don't compare reality with movies. With equipment I mean books, maybe holy water, cards and pendulums. And of course, food, hygiene products and clothes."

Relena blinked and stared at Duo. "Clothes?"

Duo nodded and smirked a little. "Ma'am, I have no idea how long this'll take and if it's going to drag out for days, then I refuse to travel back and fourth between my apartment and this house. It's not exactly a trip around the corner, a three hour drive is pretty intense."

Heero shook his head and grabbed Duo's shoulder, making him look at him. "Duo, I don't want you staying in there on your own!"

Duo chuckled and grinned. "I won't be on my own. Hilde will be there with me."

Hilde raised an eyebrow before raising her hands in front of her and shaking her head. "What? Oh, no no no. Don't drag me into this, I ain't spending the night in that house!"

"Then sleep in the car, Hilde, I really don't care. But like me, you are under a contract and dammit, I'm gonna make sure that you follow through for once!"

Hilde just glared at Duo, but didn't say anything unless she wanted Relena to reclaim the money she'd given her. "Fine fine…"

Satisfied that Hilde wouldn't run away, Duo turned back to Relena. "Okay… Listen… You don't have to remain in the house, but it would be of great help since… Well… This is your house. Now that we have established the fact that something is in the house, we can start working with it. Do know that these things may take time, this isn't a movie were a priest goes in, says a prayer and everything's okay. This can take everything from an hour to days, maybe weeks and months. It all depends on the spirit. Also, it may not be permanent. Some spirits are so attached to their earthly goods that they refuse to let go."

Relena gasped a little while glancing at the house. "Are you saying that… That… That my house will be haunted forever?"

"Your house," Heero replied, raising an eyebrow and crossing his arms. "I thought you said you were going to renovate it?"

"Heero, be nice," Duo barked back while running his temples. Heero's inner feelings for this woman was really doing a number on his own feelings; the cocktail of anger, hurt and betrayal was making him nauseated. At least he didn't love her anymore.

"Anyway," he continued while taking a deep breath. "It's… Always a possibility that your house may be haunted forever. It may be the ground they're attached to, not the house itself and it's kind of hard to bless open ground. So I would like some information on the house later after I do another search."

"Another search?" Relena echoed while starting at the long-haired physic.

Duo nodded and looked at the house. "Yes, another search." Walking over to Heero's car, Duo opened the door to the backseat and located a notebook and a pencil from his bag. Walking back to the others, Duo started scribbling down a few notes before looking at the woman. "I'd like to use a different approach. The last time I was trying to locate and contact the spirit. This time I'll try and contact the house."

Relena raised an eyebrow, making Duo smile a little. "You'd be surprised just what a house can tell you, miss Relena," he murmured while looking back at the house.

Relena just grunted and crossed her arms. "After today, nothing will surprise me anymore."

"Lets hope so," Duo replied while looking up at the large mansion while trying to squash the feeling of worry that was building in his stomach.

"So what did the house tell you?"

Glancing up from the notes he'd been writing, Duo offered a small smile to his lover while accepting the cup of coffee that he was offering. "Thank you, Heero," he murmured while taking a sip before leaning back against the chair.

Heero just nodded before sitting down next to Duo, a cup of his own in his hand.

"I'm rusty," Duo finally replied after a while. "Either I've forgotten how to do things, or the damn house and spirit is guarding it's secrets pretty darn well."

"Don't say that," Heero murmured and placed his free hand around Duo's shoulders. "I've seen what you can do and it amazes me."

Duo chuckled softly and leaned against his lover, taking great comfort in being close with Heero again. "You're sure good with words, lover… Especially since you have no idea what you're talking about."

Heero snorted and gave Duo a small nudge. "Explain to me then. All I saw today was two grown ups playing hide and seek with something I couldn't see."

Duo grunted and took a sip from his coffee before sighing. "Well… To explain everything as easy as I can, we were trying to detect the presence of a… Well… Presence. A ghost."

"And you said you didn't."

Smiling sheepish, Duo shrugged before rubbing his neck. "I… Didn't really use my all the last time since I was kind of… Skeptic to the whole thing because of mine and Hilde's… Previous jobs. But I should have realised that the feeling I got on the parking lot was related to this place, for that I am sorry."

Heero raised an eyebrow and sat up, making Duo fall slightly backwards with a yelp. "So… You were just fucking with her?"

Duo shook his head and waved his hand after sitting up. "No no, but in my line of work you must realise that I come over a lot of phony cases. Hell, one of the last "ghost-jobs" I took I realised it was all a scam! The guy that gave me the job was trying to make an ass out of me. That's when I quit and started nurturing my other gift, the art of seeing the future in cards and hands."

Heero rubbed his forehead while looking at his lover. "… Kindly explain this to me, I'm a little confused… I thought you searched for missing people in the past."

Duo put the cup down before taking Heero's head between his hands, turned him so they were facing each other and placed a loving kiss to his lips. When he pulled back, he sighed. "I'll… Explain this at the best of my abilities, it is kinda messy. But I have to explain just… What I am before I go into the depths of my past." Looking at Heero, he added quickly. "I haven't hidden anything from you, love, so don't even start thinking that!"

"… You're good…" Heero murmured before chuckling and smiling softly. "You kill my questions before I've even asked them to myself."

Duo smiled and used one of his hands to cup Heero's cheek lovingly, dragging his fingertips over the smooth skin. "I have to since I don't want you to question my love for you…"

Heero chuckled and nodded before moving to take Duo's hands in his. "Okay, I am listening. Give me everything you've got."

Duo nodded before closing his eyes, trying his best to sort his thoughts before speaking. "Okay, first of all… Do you know what I am?"

"Well," Heero started, still not all that certain just what Duo was when it came to his abilities. "… Psychic?"

Duo chuckled and nodded while opening his eyes, locking his gaze with Heero's. "Well, yes. I am a psychic. But I'm more of a… Clairvoyant. I can sense the presence of someone dead. Remember that time I said I believed that someone old had died? An old woman?"

Heero nodded and squeezed Duo's hands. He remembered.

"That's what I do," Duo continued. "I… Sense people who have passed away and I can communicate with them to a certain level so I can help them… Cross over, so to speak. When I search for them, I walk around and… Well… Try to feel them, so to speak. And when I do, I often get images, pictures linked to the ghost. It can be… Objects, scenery or just scenes from their lives."

"So… Basically, you get a dip into their memory," Heero asked, shifting so he was sitting sideways on the couch, still with Duo's hands in his.

Duo nodded and did the same thing, squeezing Heero's hand as soon as he got comfortable. "Yeah, basically. Now Hilde is what we call… A medium. She can also sense and make contact with the dead, but in a different way. She can let a spirit take over her body so I can ask direct questions to it. Of course, it's very easy to screw around with people by pretending to be a medium, there's a lot of scamming with that. It's… Easy to pretend that a spirit is entering your body and then ask the person you're fooling some leading questions." Duo stuck the tip of his tongue out and licked over his lips, wetting them since they felt dry. "Hilde," he continued after a while of silence, looking a little unsure about the next bit of information."-is the real deal, but… Her powers are very… Unpredictable, she's not always able to free herself so another spirit can take over her body for a while. It's risky and it's very tiresome for a human to do that. After all, it's two people in one body."

Heero nodded, understanding everything so far. "It's like a tug-a-war between spirits, right?"

Duo nodded. "Right. Some ghosts are cool, slips in, answers a few questions, then slip out again. But some get that… Taste for being alive and that's a bit tricky to deal with. You have to have a strong mind and will to be able to cast an unwelcome presence out of your body."

"Do you do that?" Heero asked, tilting his head while looking at Duo with curious eyes.

Duo shook his head and released one of his hands from Heero's grasp so he could tweak his lover's nose. "Did you not pay attention, Heero? I am a clairvoyant, not a medium."

"Right, sorry," Heero mumbled, getting a bit confused. "So… Um… You can locate and communicate with spirits, but… You can also find missing people and see the future. Where does that come into the picture?"

"Ah, that's the part of my inner eye," Duo replied while tapping his own forehead. "You see, when I search for missing people, I touch something that belongs to them. That way, I can communicate with their spirit, so to speak. I get an image of where they are."

"Like you do with ghosts," Heero said. "But how does it work when the person you're trying to find is still alive, so to speak?"

"You see," Duo started and used his free hand to scratch the back of his neck. "When a person dies, they often are left with a memory of where and how, and I can get those images. If a person is alive however, I kinda… See through their eyes. Like… My spirit takes a dip behind their eyes. Did that make sense?"

The Japanese male nodded. "You see through their eyes," he repeated. "But what about the future stuff? Is that a part of the inner eye as well?"

"That's more like a bonus as far as I'm concerned," Duo replied while picking up the half-empty mug with coffee and took a sip, grimacing when he found that the coffee had turned cold. "Ugh."

Heero just scratched his head before looking at the notes Duo had written. "I think I understand some now, but… What have you been writing all day?"

"Well… My feelings so to speak," Duo replied while picking up the sheets of paper. "When me and Hilde took that second trip around the house. … The very brief second trip, we tried to gather some information about what was in there. I didn't really get much so I hope I'll be more lucky tomorrow."

Heero frowned some. "… You're going out there tomorrow? Alone?"

Duo chuckled and grinned. "Nah, Hilde will be there too. We'll be doing some investigating and if we have to, we'll spent a couple of days there since it's not exactly around the corner."

"… Alone," Heero dead panned. He did not like this, he did not like this at all.

"Not alone, Heero," Duo replied and gave his lover a swat over the head. "Don't worry, we know what we're doing. We'll go back to the house tomorrow, try to find some more information. If we have to, we'll dig information on the house up at the library or something and then we'll try and get rid of that's in there. Easy."

"Easy," Heero grunted and placed a secure arm around Duo's waist and nuzzled his neck. "… You're not the one watching the one you love get slammed into the wall…"

Duo smiled and turned around to give Heero a kiss, pressing his lips lovingly, but briefly to Heero's. "I'll be fine… If you get nervous, then you can call me or something, okay?"

"I'd rather come with you," Heero grunted, but knew that wasn't an option. He had obligations to his work and he couldn't just take a few days off to go ghost-hunting with his lover. … Though Quatre would probably let him do it, if he asked nicely. "… How long do you think you'll be gone?"

"Mmm, I dunno… It really depends on the house. If there's just one ghost there, I'll be back before supper. But if there's many and they're hiding, then it may take a while," Duo replied while shifting so he was straddling Heero's lap, wrapping his arms around his lover's shoulders. "That's what sucks about the job. We can go in, tell them to go away and then finish it up. We have to make contact, reason with them, talk with them and then help them cross over. If a ghost doesn't wanna, then there's very little we can do."

Heero grunted again while wrapping his arms around Duo's waist, tugging him close. "… But you'll be okay… Won't you?"

Duo nodded and smiled softly, brushing his lips over Heero's forehead. "I'll be fine, love…

"… And you'll call me if something comes up? I don't care if it's something as small as a poke, if something messes with you, you'll call?"

Duo chuckled and nodded again. "Yes, Heero, I'll call. In fact, I'll call you every night, okay?"

Heero hesitated before nodding, giving Duo's waist a small squeeze. "… Okay. … Do your best on it, will you?"

Duo smiled and buried his face in Heero's neck, giving the soft skin a series of nibbles. "Mm, I'm a professional, 'Ro. I know what I'm doing. Besides, I've got Hilde with me, so what's the worst that can happen?"

Somehow, those words didn't reassure Heero, not even a little bit.

xoxoxoxox

_Authors Note: Okay, I was struggling with this one. Reeeeally struggling. Mostly because I'm uber stressed, but it was a hard chapter to write because. … Well… Nothing happened. But as soon as my exam is over with, I'll devote more time to writing and I promise that more action will happen soon. … Hopefully. That really depends on my muse. _

_Reviews are a happy thing. _


	5. Chapter 5

**Illusions**

Ugh, I hate school… Really, I do. It takes up all my damn time. X.x

So sorry for the delay, please bare with me and I will try and speed things up. It's just hard to juggle the time between school, the occasional working day and homework.

xoxoxoxox

Dumping the last bag onto the couch in the grand living room, Duo looked around before letting his eyes land on his female companion. "Need a hand, Hilde?"

Hilde pouted and shook her head while struggling to get the camera attached to its rack. "No, I don't need your stinking hands, I am fully capable of attaching this camera to this stinking rack on my own!"

Duo just smirked while opening his bag and located his digital camera. "Suit yourself, missy. Just remember that I offered, but you declined. And it's the only camera we have."

"Why do we need a stinking camera for anyway," Hilde replied while kicking the rack so it collapsed. "I thought this was going to be a straight forward job. Get in, find the ghost, get it or them out and then get the hell out of here."

"Well," Duo replied while checking the batteries in the camera, seemingly ignoring Hilde and her assault on the camera rack. "If our first encounter with this place is anything to go by, it's not really keen on talking to us. So… With some luck, we can try and capture them on tape and go from there. If we know more of its or their patterns, it'll be easier for us to communicate with them."

Hilde just grunted and sat down next to Duo on the battered old couch, coughing a little as the movement made a lot of dust appear in the air. "Ugh… For a retired fellow, you sure know what the hell you're doing."

"I'm always prepared for anything," Duo replied while waving the dust away from his face. "Besides, the cards told me that I'd be in a lot of shit in the future and told me to get ready."

Hilde just stared at him before punching his shoulder as Duo's serious face broke into a mischievous grin. "You dick, stop fucking around with that! Geez, you psychic people and your damn abilities… I hate the lot of you."

"You're just saying that because I know when your period comes before you do," Duo quipped and turned his attention back to the digital camera, still grinning wickedly.

"Funny, Duo. Very funny. Just because you said that, I'll let you walk the first round alone," Hilde barked back, looking most unhappy. Duo guessed that she wasn't the least bit happy over being here and he just couldn't help but tease her.

"You got yourself into this mess and you dragged me along with you so you'll remain here with me and you will walk the rounds with me."

Hilde just grunted and continued to work with setting up the camera. "Yeah, yeah… But why do we hafta sleep here during the night? Can't we check in at a hotel?"

"No," Duo replied while getting up, walking over to the struggling woman to help her with the camera. "Activity can happen at any time and the more time we spend here, the more we'll find out and the quicker we can get out of here. Besides, the nearest hotel is… Damn, an hour away from here and I am not willing to start my day driving for an hour."

"You're just afraid of driving," Hilde teased, making Duo roll his eyes as he fastened the camera securely to the rack.

"I am not afraid of driving, I just don't like to drive," he replied while returning to the couch to find himself one of the candy bars he'd packed down the night before. "I don't trust those metal boxes, I've been visited one time too many by ghosts that's died a horrible death in a horrible car accident."

"Doesn't mean you'll die in one of them," Hilde quipped, then blinked as Duo snapped a picture of her with his camera, getting the flash in the middle of her face. "Ow! Why did you do that," she yelled while rubbing her eyes.

"You're mean, cruel and not nice to me. That's why," Duo replied while walking back to the couch, putting the camera down and picking up a notebook and a pencil. "Shall we?"

Hilde squinted before rubbing her eyes some more, then blinked as the effect from the flash eased up. "Shall we what?"

"Go ghost hunting, of course," Duo smiled while walking towards the grand hall.

"What?! Now?!"

"Wanna wait until ghost hour when the house is dark and every sound get louder and scarier and you start seeing things? Because that's fine with me," the braided man replied while leaning against the door.

Hilde swallowed before shaking her head and grabbed her own notebook. "Okay, you have a point. Lets do it while it's nice and light here."

"Wimp."

"Ass."

"Thank you."

Hilde rolled her eyes before shaking her head, following Duo to the stairs and started walking upstairs. "So what's the plan?"

"Lets just try and gather some info, try to find out more about the house and the guest that seems to be stuck here."

"Can't we just look at the library or something," Hilde asked, stopping at the top of the stairs and just looking at Duo.

"We could," the braided man said and kept on walking, not even tossing a glance over at Hilde's direction. He knew she would follow him soon. "But the previous owner of the house can tell us a shitload more about this place than any library could."

"If it will talk to us," Hilde mumbled in a grim voice, following Duo as quick as she could. There was no way she wanted to be left alone in this house.

"Even if we won't be able to communicate with it, it'll most likely give us something to go by. Remember, we don't have the foggiest idea about anything that's been going on in this house in the past."

"Right right," Hilde sighed as they walked towards the end of the main hallway in the second floor, searching for the stairs up to the third floor. "So the more it wants us dead, the closer we are. Oh, joy."

"May I remind you that YOU got us into this mess," Duo snapped, feeling a bit annoyed with Hilde's constant complaining. "If you hadn't tried screwing Relena over, you wouldn't be here and I would be home, safe and sound and telling the future to people before I can make and eat dinner and have hot sex at night."

"I wasn't planning on screwing her over, and I didn't need to know what your damn life consists off, you dick," Hilde barked back, then blinked some as Duo started staring at her. "… You feel that too?"

Duo nodded while starting to look around. "Uhu… It's trying to set us up against each other… To make us leave…"

"Or worse," Hilde gulped while stepping closer to her friend. "… I didn't mean to snap at you…"

"I know, I didn't either," Duo murmured, giving the girl a reassuring smile. "Lets… It caught us with our pants down, attacked our minds when we weren't looking. We hafta keep our guards up for now."

Hilde nodded while looking around nervously. "Right… This ability sucks. I hate this."

"Nobody forced you to make good of it, Hilde," Duo replied while moving up the stairs, up to the third floor. "You could have ignored it and done something else."

"Wouldn't change the fact that ghosts would still whisper to me in the ear," she grumbled before stiffening. Duo turned around and looked at her while she stared emptily into the air. It only lasted for a few seconds, then she shook her head and cursed. "Dammit, I hate it when that happens!"

"What did you get? Hurry up, write it down before it slips!" Duo coated, looking almost eager.

"Yeah yeah, gimme a moment, will you," Hilde barked while writing down a number. Duo tilted his head and raised an eyebrow.

"… 1890? What does that mean?"

"Beats me," Hilde replied while shrugging. "But that's what I got. Maybe it's when the house was build or something, I dunno."

Duo nodded, then smiled and patted Hilde's back. "Well caught, Hilde. That's our first lead since Relena doesn't know shit about this place."

Hilde raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Duo nodded and shook his head. "Really. I asked before she let us in earlier today and she doesn't know shit about this place. She just bought it, no questions asked."

"… Not one question? Not even if there was a problem?"

"No questions," Duo repeated. "I don't think she really cared since she's just going to renovate it, then sell it anyway."

"What an idiot," Hilde mumbled and rolled her eyes. "Who buys a house without checking it up first?"

"People without the kind of abilities that you, I and a handful of other people have," Duo replied and stopped, looked around before glancing over at Hilde. "I think we should split up or this will take forever."

Hilde just gave him a look. "… You did not just suggest that we split up, did you? Tell me you didn't."

"Sorry," Duo replied and smiled sheepishly. "But I don't lie. This house has five floors, not counting the attic and the uber-creepy basement. I suggest that we trail a floor each, then meet up down at the first or fifth floor and attack the attic or basement together."

Hilde shook her head almost violently, her dark blue bangs flying from side to side, making her hair all messy. "Oh, no no no, I am not trailing this place alone! What if we get attacked?!"

"Try not to be threatening," Duo replied. "Just… Be casual. … And careful. Try not to do anything to provoke… Well… Anything."

"Easy for you to say," Hilde grumbled before sighing and nodding. "Fine fine… Lets… Get our phones ready, so we can just press a button to notify the other if we get into trouble."

Duo nodded while fishing up his phone, dialing up Hilde's number before pocketing the phone again. Hilde did the same with her phone, only she put it into the breast pocket of her shirt. "There. Now… Lets get this over with."

Duo grinned and prepared his notebook and pencil. "Come on, don't be so gloomy. Think of it as… Some sort of hide and seek."

Hilde rolled her eyes while making her way towards the staircase that would bring her to the third floor. "Oh, joy. And the only risk the seeker has it to become a permanent part of the wall… That's fun for the whole family."

Duo just shook his head and started walking down the hallway leading to the many different rooms at the second floor. All the time he listened for Hilde's footsteps, getting nervous as the footsteps slowly disappeared as she got further and further away from him.

Swallowing heavily, Duo licked over his lips before entering the first room of choice, humming softly to himself as he entered.

"Hmmhm hmmhm hm…

Living in the sunlight, loving in the moonlight.

Having a wonderful time…"

xoxoxoxoxox

Growling some as he found himself getting unfocused for the third time in one hour, Heero shook his head and ran a hand through his hair.

"Something bothering you?"

Looking up, Heero stared at his boss's tall, banged lover who was busy writing a reciet (sp- receipt) for a package that now was placed on Heero's desk. "… When did you get here?"

"Sometime between the cursing of your computer and the growling. You're very focused, aren't you? … Or spacey. I wasn't sure just what it was," Trowa replied while handing Heero the tablet so he could sign the receipt. "Your new external hard drive is here, by the way."

"About time," Heero growled, giving Trowa little glare before signing his name at the dotted line with his usual messy handwriting. Handing the tablet back, Heero waved his hand while going back to staring at his screen. "You can go now."

Trowa just shook his head while reading over the receipt again. "I'll go," he replied before fixing one green eye at his friend. "When you tell me why you have a stick jammed really far up your ass."

Heero turned his head and glared back before looking around. "… Not that it's any of your business, but I am just a little… Anxious."

"A little?" Trowa chuckled a little and smirked, placing his hand against his hip, tablet still in it while leaning against Heero's desk with his other. "You look like you want to be anywhere but here, and while I know Quatre has said that you've been like that ever since you started dating your fortune-teller, you look even more so now. When I've been here before to deliver your gear, you've never looked like… Well… This."

Heero twitched some and looked away. "You know, that's the most I've ever heard you say… And you stare too much at me. Quatre might get jealous."

"Don't try yourself," Trowa quipped while grinning. "I have no interest in you other than the occasional conversations and our Friday-night poker evenings. By the way, are we still on for that?"

Heero shrugged. "I don't know, we're short one player since Duo ain't home… And I don't know when he'll be back."

"Lets play anyway, maybe I'll actually have a chance to win then, especially if Wufei's joining," Trowa replied before blinking as Heero's words went home. "Wait… Duo ain't home? Where is he?"

Heero sighed heavily and resisted the urge to slam his head against his desk. "… He's working…"

Trowa raised an eyebrow. "… With?"

Heero sighed again and Trowa could swear that the man looked just like a puppy missing it's master. "He's ghost-hunting with an old colleague of his… He's already been slammed against the wall once already, but he still insisted on going…"

Trowa raised an eyebrow and stared at Heero. "… Wait, isn't he a psychic? I didn't know he dealt with ghosts as well."

Heero shrugged while connecting the external hard drive to his computer and turned it on so he could save his work on it. "He doesn't. … Not normally anyway. He just got kicked into it by an old… Colleague of his."

"And when will he be done?"

"Beats me. He said you can't put a time-line on ghost hunting when I saw him off this morning. He promised he'd call me though."

Trowa nodded before offering a small smile. "Well, that's good." Then he straightened up from leaning against Heero's desk and grabbed the bag with mail and packages. "Anyway, I have to go now. More packages to deliver."

"And my boss to kiss senseless," Heero replied, then sighed heavily as he realized he couldn't kiss his own lover senseless when he came home. "…"

Trowa just laughed and waved at Heero, shaking his head as he left to deliver the rest of the mail.

xoxoxoxoxox

"Nada! Nothing! Zip! Zilch! Not a damn thing!"

Hilde growled while pacing the livingroom, her hands crossed over her chest and eyes furrowed into a deep frown.

Duo just chuckled and grinned while sipping at a hot cup with instant coffee. "Now that's not true. We got several urges that made us wanna leave this place, a warning in the form of a vase heading towards your head and that year you wrote down."

Hilde just frowned and stopped pacing, watching as Duo picked up the notebook where she'd scribbled down her findings. Most of the things were useless, just feelings and voices telling her to get out, but the year she'd gotten could prove useful.

"1890," Duo read up as he looked at the numbers. "Maybe it was when the house was first build?"

"Or maybe it was when the person or persons died here," Hilde suggested, her whole mood had turned dark from the non-successful hunt. But at the same time, she was glad that they hadn't encountered anything dangerous, aside from her almost getting a vase in the head.

Duo just shook his head. "Come on now, don't be so gloomy. Look, we have instant soup and everything."

"Yuck, I hate instant soup," Hilde mumbled, stuffing her hands into her pockets as he walked back towards the couch.

"Come on, it's chicken and noodle. You like chicken and noodle," Duo replied and held up the round carton containing the unmade and dry soup. "Come on, lets put a little warm water into this baby and we'll get you fed. Then everything will be so nice and cozy again."

"… Duo… We are spending the night in a haunted house which we know nothing about! Already we've had two attacks! What if we wake up without heads tomorrow?!"

"Now you're being silly," Duo replied while taking the thermos with hot water from his bag and unscrewed the lid. Then he removed the lid from the instant soup, poured some hot water into it before closing it again, leaving it to cook for itself. "If we loose our heads during the night, I doubt we'll wake up at all."

Hilde just glared at him while sitting down next to Duo on the couch. "… I really hate that sense of humor that you have… It's grim… Dark… Disgusting…"

"You still like me though," Duo pointed out while grabbing for the cup with instant soup to stir in it, then blinked as the cup moved. "…"

Hilde raised an eyebrow, having not seen the movement of the cup, only Duo's suddenly stunned expression. "… What?"

"Did you see that," Duo asked while gesturing towards the cup.

"See what?"

Duo frowned while watching the cup, not really wanting to pick it up. "The cup… It moved."

Hilde's eyes widened and she started looking around. "What? Are you sure?"

"Positive," Duo replied while using a finger to poke the cup. Then he yelped as the thermos he'd placed next to the cup suddenly fell over, spilling hot water all over the table. "Shit!"

Grabbing his head as Hilde let out a frightened scream as the whole couch suddenly started rocking, Duo let out a pained groan as various emotions suddenly filled him; Anger, disgust, pain, despair, hatred. It was like a negative cocktail and it was making his sick.

"Duo, what's going on?!"

"I dunno," he yelled out while using his free hand to grab Hilde's hand and tugged her off the couch seconds before it fell backwards, breathing heavily while starting with wide eyes as the table started rocking.

Hilde grabbed a hold of Duo's arm tightly with both hands and tugged him away from the table as the items on top of it suddenly started moving.

Duo grabbed one of the pillows before they ran to the nearest corner, curling up there and hugging Hilde close to him, tugging her onto his lap. He winced slightly as Hilde let out a frightened scream as the lights started blinking. The emotions inside him remained there as the room seemed to wake up. Everything was moving. Chairs were rocking, pictures were spinning on the walls, the curtains hanging from both the walls and the windows started moving, almost resembling hands that tried to grab after them.

Wrapping his arms tightly around the shivering woman on his lap, Duo swallowed heavily while watching Hilde's cup with instant soup splash over their sparse equipment, praying that whatever was messing around now would leave their camera's alone.

When said camera's was suddenly flung towards them, hitting the wall just inches above their heads, Duo shivered and tugged Hilde closer, ignoring her frightened screams.

"Hilde… I think we need some help here…"

xoxoxoxox

_Author's Notes: Woot, now we're getting somewhere! Seems like somebody doesn't want the two of them in the house. :3 Will they survive the night? Stay tuned and find out!_


	6. Chapter 6

**Illusions**

I am sure that quite many of you have started to think that this story is dead and forgotten, but far from. I've just been through a rough time in real life that killed off every ounce of will and inspiration. Rather than coughing up something half-ass, I decided to let the story sleep for a while as I recovered from the drama and regain some of my former love for writing.

I am far from well still, but I've started to regain some of the glow that I used to have. This chapter and your reviews will tell me if I should continue to let the story sleep some or if I am actually fit for battle once again. Your reviews and responses will mean the world to me.

But… I'd rather be really slow and write good chapters than rush my story and make it horrible. So… Thank you all for your patience and I hope you will enjoy the next chapter.

xoxoxoxox

Blinking when the first beams from the sun hit him in the face, Duo slowly opened his eyes and looked around in the room, or at least tried to. Hilde's hair was in his face, so after gently nudging her head to rest against his shoulder, he took a sweep over the room with his eyes.

It was oddly… Clean…

The flipped over couch was back on his feet, the equipment was back on the table. Even the cup with instant soup, which Duo knew had been poured over their equipment, was standing innocently next to one of the cameras. The whole room, which had been pulsating with energy the night before, was in order.

"What in the-?"

Giving Hilde a nudge, Duo tried to sit more upright, groaning a little as he noticed that his legs had fallen asleep. Hilde just groaned and buried her face in his neck. "'m sleepin'…"

"Not anymore," Duo replied and shoved the woman off his lap, making her curse and kick at his side.

"Dammit, Maxwell, what is your fucking problem?"

"Something's toying with us," Duo replied with a sour voice as he stood up from the floor and rubbed the spot Hilde had kicked. "Look at this."

Hilde just groaned and tried kicking him again, though missing him by a mile, before sitting up more straight and looked around the room. "Oh, you've been a busy boy, Duo. You've cleaned up and everything."

"It wasn't me."

Hilde raised an eyebrow before laughing. "Oh, good one, Duo. Real good one. Ha ha, almost got me there."

Duo just sighed and gave Hilde a look. "Hilde. It wasn't me."

Blinking, Hilde stared at Duo again before smirking. "So… You're telling me that we have Casper, the friendly ghost here, cleaning up the other… things' mess?"

Duo shook his head while walking over to the table, giving the cup there a small poke. The only thing different about it was that the water was now cold instead of warm. Just how was that possible..? "I don't think so," Duo finally replied before looking at the other woman. "I think something's fucking with us. Making us all paranoid and question our own eyes and sanity."

"Well, it's working," Hilde mumbled while wrapping her arms around herself, obviously shivering. "I told you that there was something odd about this place."

Duo nodded slowly while picking up his camera, turning it on and flipping through the pictures there. It was still working, despite having watched it getting showered with soup the night before. "I believe you," he murmured quietly while putting the camera back onto the table while looking around. "Which is why we need a bit more help here."

"More people," Hilde asked while raising an eyebrow, carefully poking the couch before actually sitting down on it, just in case it decided to become alive again. "We're already the only two in here, why do we need to drag in another person?"

"Because you and I are only half-ass," Duo replied while locating his bag, carefully poking it with his camera first before he started to rummage around inside it. "My strong points are fortune telling, your strong points are… I am not sure what your strong points are, but it sure as hell ain't this."

"So what are you suggesting? Look up another person in the yellow pages?"

"Nope," Duo replied before flashing Hilde a wide grin. "I am calling her."

Hilde's face went pale as her expression turned into one of horror as she realized just whom Duo was planning to call. Shooting up from the couch as if it had become alive and bit her, she almost tossed herself at Duo and tried to steal his cell phone. "No! No no no! You are not calling her, she is insane!"

"She knows what she's doing," Duo replied while using one arm to hold Hilde down while pressing in a few buttons with his thumb. "We need her expertise."

"And in return she will claim our soul, blood, first-born and virginities!"

"Well, then you have nothing to fear," Duo quipped and flashed Hilde a sly grin. Hilde just glared at Duo and resisted the sudden urge to smash a chair over the braided head.

"If she kills us, I will come back to haunt you for the rest of your sorry life."

"You most likely will anyway," Duo replied while putting the phone up to his ear, listening to the phone as it rang. His smile turned more nervous as a man answered the call after three rings.

"Hello? Ah, James. Yeah, this is Duo Maxwell calling. Can you let Dorothy Catalonia know that I wish a word?"

xxx

Looking down the driveway from the doorway of the big mansion, Duo felt a mix of excitement and nervousness in his stomach. Each time he heard a car come nearer the mansion, he felt his stomach fill up with butterflies. He was also having a hard time preventing his legs from running away from the place.

One look at Hilde's pale face told him that she was basically feeling the same.

"I do not like this at all," she mumbled while leaning against the doorframe, crossing her arms over her chest. "I don't like it, I don't like it."

"I heard you the first time," Duo replied while keeping his eyes at the driveway. "But it doesn't change the fact that we need her."

"We need her as much as we need a toothache," Hilde mumbled, then jumped as a car honked its horn in the distance. "Shit," she mumbled while running a hand through her hair. "This is making me anxious… Seriously…"

"Hilde," Duo started and slowly turned his head to face the dark-haired girl next to him. "… Listen, I know you don't really like Dorothy's way of working or her behavior anymore than I do, but that doesn't change the fact that… She knows what she's doing. She knows it damn well too and we need that knowledge. And really, it's just the snide comments you need to worry about, she is dead serious when she work(s)."

"I prefer chasing around after the ghosts myself," Hilde mumbled, but Duo could tell that the woman understood and agreed with what he said. Mostly because it looked like she was trying to eat up her own fingernails from sheer nervousness.

"Feel free to, but I will greet her when she comes here," Duo replied before jumping as the honking of a horn suddenly filled the air. Fixing his eyes at the driveway, Duo felt his heart started pumping faster in his chest as he recognized the golden limo that came towards him. "… It's too late now anyway."

Hilde let out a frightened whimper while staring at the limo with large eyes. "It's her… It's really her… The she-devil…"

The limo stopped in front of them with a small jerk, dust from the road flying up from the movement. Silence filled the air and Duo halfway expected the theme-music from Psycho be heard around them. The fact that nobody emerged from the car didn't really help much either.

"Why is she taking her bloody time," Hilde mumbled while Duo just flashed her a nervous smile.

"You know her," he said in a low voice before stepping down towards the golden limo. Just as he reached out his hand to open the car door, it flew open. Jumping back while watching as a tall, longhaired blond woman emerged, Duo started wondering if this had indeed been such a good idea.

"Dorothy…"

Dorothy grinned some while lowering the sunglasses from her eyes, obviously eyeing the longhaired male with great interest. "My my my… Duo Maxwell… How you have grown since the last time I saw you… How long has it been… One year? Two?"

"Three actually," Duo replied while reaching out his hand to the woman. He almost preferred shoving it down a lion's throat.

"And you haven't even tried to contact me through all that time… I am sad," Dorothy quipped while making a sad face, even going as far as making sniffing noises. Duo just sighed and pulled his hand back, not even bothering to protest against the woman.

"We don't buy that for a second, you know," Hilde mumbled while stepping down to Duo. "We can sense the evil aura from you a mile away."

"Ah, pity that. I thought I did such a good job as well." Dorothy shrugged while removing the sunglasses from her face, carefully fastening it to the cleavage of her black jacket. Two large buttons held it together, though Duo was glad that Dorothy was professional enough to wear something underneath the jacket.

Adjusting the golden pin fastened at the throat of her white blouse before straightening out her knee-length black skirt, Dorothy took her first look at the mansion.

"… You know… This place is taken out of a bad horror movie. I mean, the theme, the setting, the location…" She shook her head and let out a heavy sigh before looking at the two. "So… What have you figured out here so far."

"Practically nothing," Duo replied while crossing his arms over his chest. "We got a year from something, but other than that, the thing in there has basically just been fucking with us."

"Ah, so we have a challenge on our hands." Dorothy grinned with glee while running her hands together, looking very much like a child ready to attack a pile with wrapped up gifts. "So… Tell me everything that's been going on here."

"Except for the sudden hostility, attacks and the terror, nothing much," Hilde replied sarcastically while eyeing Dorothy with uncertainty.

Dorothy fixed her what only could be described as an evil grin. "My, Hilde… You haven't changed either…Just as hostile as always… I always loved that fire in you…"

"Stay away from me or I will crucify you," Hilde almost yelled while Duo placed his hands on her shoulders to prevent her from either jumping on the blonde or running away.

"Oh, you just watch it or I will bewitch you," Dorothy purred, obviously enjoying herself.

"Just take it easy," Duo mumbled and sighed some, growing a bit tired of the two of them fighting. "And focus on the task at hand. I dunno about you, but this place is giving me a head-ache."

Dorothy turned her smirking face towards Duo before her expression suddenly turned serious. Walking up to him, she placed a hand against his forehead while frowning. "… You are seriously attacked here… The spirits must feel threatened by you…"

"That much I have noticed," Duo replied dryly and rolled his eyes. "I seriously doubt getting tossed into the wall is their way of saying 'Make yourself at home'."

"Oooh, you are still so feisty," Dorothy grinned, giving Duo's cheek a tug before starting to walk towards the door.

"James, take the car home, it's not needed here," she barked over her shoulder before looking up at the majestic door. "I think I will stay here until this case is solved…" Smirking to herself, she nodded and closed her eyes. "Ah, yes… I definitely will stay here…"

The driver just bowed before getting back into the car and drove off, leaving the three adults alone on the property.

Hilde swallowed some and grabbed a hold of Duo's arm before clinging herself to it. "I dunno what I fear the most… Her or the ghosts in there…"

"Oh, come on," Duo mumbled before nodding towards Dorothy. "It's definitely her you should fear."

"May I remind you that this was your idea to begin with?"

"Yeah yeah, lets just get this over with."

Hilde just smirked before following Duo and Dorothy inside the house, all three mentally preparing themselves for what was to come.

xxx

"Well, that was a huge disappointment."

Dorothy pouted and sat down onto the couch, stretching her legs out some before crossing them. "At the least I expected something to be tossed at me, but I didn't get anything out of it. Nothing. Nada."

Hilde just grunted and sat down into the chair next to the couch, writing something onto the notebook that she brought with her around the house. "You coming here probably scared the piss out of the ghost."

"Wouldn't surprise me the least," Duo quipped while plugging in the water boiler so they could make something to eat. "Can I tempt you ladies with some instant noodles?"

"Oh, I haven't had that since our time travelling around in America." Dorothy grinned some while nodding eagerly. "I'd love some of that, eating all that caviar and stuff just gets boring."

"Oh, I can imagine living on steak and fancy food everyday must be a drag," Hilde replied dryly while nodding towards Duo, signalizing that she wanted some as well.

"It's like that with all kinds of food, my dear," Dorothy replied smugly while leaning back against the couch. "As long as you eat it often enough, you will turn sick and tired of it. Steak or hamburger doesn't really matter."

"She's got a point, you know," Duo replied while waiting for the water to start boiling.

"Stop taking her side," Hillde pouted and crossed her arms over her chest, looking away from the two of them. Duo just snickered while preparing the meals for the two women.

"Now," he started while handing Dorothy one of the cups, glancing around in the room as if he expected something to come. "Me and Hilde have been here for two days now and what we have discovered is that someone is pissed off. It's aggressive, hostile and it has something to do with the number we got."

Dorothy nodded some while cracking her knuckles, having a thoughtful expression on her face. "Well…" she murmured softly and closed her eyes. "What we have won't really help us and knowing the two of you…" Dorothy eyed them before grinning some. "Well… We need more leads, more clues."

"That's why we called you," Hilde pouted while poking her fork into the soggy noodles. "Because you can talk to these guys in a way we can't."

"I was under the impression that Duo was able to talk to and channel ghosts as well," Dorothy asked while using her fork to stir in her own cup with noodles. "Or was it limited?"

"Limited," Duo replied after eating half the contents in the mug in one go. "Mmm… I can sense them and sometimes hear them, but they can't really hear me."

"In other words, dear, our little boy cannot establish proper communications with them, at least not without someone to speak for him," Hilde replied sweetly before giving Dorothy a rather nasty smile.

Dorothy paid her no mind. Instead she put her cup down onto the table and got up from the couch, brushing off the seat of her clothes as she did so. "I think I want to take another trip around the house… Also, I will call for some extra belongings of mine so we can properly investigate this area." Glancing over at Duo, Dorothy crossed her arms over her chest. "How long did you say we had to… Solve this little problem?"

Duo shrugged and put down his own cup, not really feeling hungry. "As fast as possible, but I've already told her that we'll take the time that we need. No more, no less."

"Clever boy," Dorothy mused before glancing over at the old-fashioned fireplace. "But as stated, I think some research of the history of the house would be in order. So far the… Inhabitants of this place is (are) not very willing to help us so we need to help ourselves. With some more facts we should be able to establish a slightly better contact." Clicking her tongue against the roof of her mouth, Dorothy gave Duo a rather evil grin. "And I thought you and your powers always knew things before it happened… Really, this should be a piece of cake for someone of your… Abilities."

"Things don't always work out in my favor dear," Duo replied in a slightly annoyed voice, though it was himself he was mostly annoyed at. In the past he'd been able to suck up every bit of history in a house if he wanted to, but now… It was like the house itself was preventing him from doing so and it annoyed him greatly. Picking up his cup again, only to give himself _something _to do, Duo stabbed his fork into the contents and started eating.

Chewing on her lower lip, Dorothy's expression once again turned serious before looking at Hilde and Duo. "Okay, lets go over the facts once again and see what we can do as we are. For one, Hilde got a year from some… entity in this house. It may be just a coincidence, but I have a feeling that something happened that year in this house, something of importance."

"Like a wedding or a birth? Or maybe that's when the house was built," Hilde suggested, but Duo shook his head, frowning deeply.

"No, Hilde… I dunno what it is, but I just KNOW that that year… Something bad happened. It was: life changing and… Important, yes, but it was bad."

Dorothy nodded before using her plastic fork as a pointing stick. "Fact two. Duo was attacked not even an hour after entering the house so we know that we're not welcome. At least Duo isn't welcome here. We're an annoyance to whatever is in here. And fact three is that none of us are scrubs when it comes to this and yet we get nothing from the house. So its secrets are guarded by something powerful and, god forbid, I wouldn't be surprised if we pry too hard in a bad way… We'll get seriously injured."

Hilde swallowed heavily before shaking her head; her dark bangs falling into her eyes. "So… Your plan is..?"

Reaching) for her purse, Dorothy fished through it before locating her cell phone, quickly dialing a number. "Well, we hardly need anymore help here, but we need information. So I am going to make some arrangements so we can get it."

"Basically," Duo replied after slurping up the final noodles from his cup and put it down. "One of us are going to town and raiding the library."

Dorothy grinned and nodded before she started talking merrily into the phone. Duo just let out a small sigh before wishing for this starting nightmare to be over.

xoxoxoxox

_Author's Notes: _

_This was a hard chapter to write as I feel I need to be very very careful with what I am doing with it. I don't want to drag the story out, it's not supposed to go over many chapters. After all, they are hunting for spirits and ghosts here, not being on a holiday. *smirks* But I don't want to rush things either so… We'll see where this'll take me. _

_This chapter is just a filler really, as I try to tie some knots together to really get the show on the road! An annoyance, but a necessary evil._


	7. Chapter 7

**Illusions**

And finally, a new chapter of this story. I am struggling a little to continue with it, simply because off time, but I will try my best to write when I have the time to.

But be warned, if I do not have the time, I do not have the time. Updates can, and most likely will be slow. I can only apologize for that.

Hope you will enjoy this one though!

xoxoxoxox

Chewing on the cap of the pen, Duo clicked his way through the different pages of local newspapers that had been brought to him from the librarian.

The two women had agreed that out of the three of them, he was the one best suited because he was the one that was best at gathering information. He knew what to look for and had an eye for separating clues from useless information. That and because he was pretty much useless compared to the two ladies when it came to getting into contact with spirits.

Getting in touch with Dorothy's driver had been an easy feat; Duo had halfway expected that the phones would be down or for the cell phones to explode or –something-, but nothing did. Duo didn't know if he was to be relieved or disappointed.

Driving to town took a while; Relena had not been joking when she said she wanted a place of solitude. The drive took a good hour, which made him wonder just where Dorothy had been when Hilde called her. She had gotten here in less than three hours. Granted, it was still early in the day and the city where he himself lived was only a three hour drive away, and god knew that Dorothy had enough money to get herself anywhere at the speed of light…

As soon as they were there and had found the local library, the first thing he had done was searching for the year that had been revealed to him and Hilde earlier.

He immediately found that they had been right about it. It was the year the house had been build and completed.

Reopening the first article he had found about it, he cued it to be printed. All information was good information at this point and bringing everything he could find back to the house would be the best choice. They would work at separating the useless scribbles from the interesting stuff together.

Next on his list was searching for any and every possible accident and death that had happened at the house, from the most natural causes of death to unexplained disappearances and deaths. What he had found so far had made him raise an eyebrow, but it was nothing that really stood out.

Construction had been started by a Lord Frinman, a wealthy and well-liked banker with a loving wife and a beautiful young daughter, at least according to the article and the old, fading picture. From the first day of the constructions and up until ten years ago there had been deaths, but most of the deaths were listed as accidents during the building and reconstructions. Tragic, but hardly suspicious. The 1890's was hardly a time where safety in construction-areas was first priority like it was now.

The more recent deaths were fewer, three in total, and all had been from attempted break-ins at the upper levels of the house, either from falling down from the roof or the one poor sod who fell down from his ladder.

Only one was worth researching more about and that was the murder of a small girl and her mother when the first owner of the house had, for unknown reasons, gone crazy. The friends of the family had, according to the article, described as the man was a well-liked lord, fair and loving his family. For him to suddenly kill them was a mystery. When they had found him, he had been holding his daughter in his arms, sobbing and crying about demons and devils. The law had deemed him crazy, the church claimed he was possessed and was playing with the devil. In the end he had been sentenced to death, leaving the house up for sale. That had been the year that had been reveled to them.

The same year that the construction of the house had been completed.

Chewing on his pencil, Duo carefully turned the wheel on the screen, bringing forward the next page of the newspaper before he turned the screen off completely. He had found what he needed, but he wasn't sure if it was enough. At least they had something could go after now and he hoped that with Dorothy's help, they could make a better connection with the spirits of the house. After all, someone had to know something about what the house was hiding.

Maybe Dorothy and Hilde had learned more about the spirits themselves while he was gone.

After searching and reading most of the articles he came over about the house, Duo found that he wasn't getting anywhere. There were things that had happened in the house, yes; people who claimed that it was haunted, but there had been no other suspicious deaths after the death of the lord's family, as he had seen when scanning over the few articles.

Moving towards the printer, the old screening-rolls with the articles under his arm, Duo picked up the pages he had printed out before walking over to the check-out counter to pay for the articles. It wasn't much and he wasn't satisfied, but without proper questions to ask to the right people… He sighed and rubbed his forehead some, waiting behind a woman who was checking out some books. He was tempted to warn her about the loose step at the restaurant she would enter later in the evening, but in the end choose not to do so. She probably wouldn't believe him and at worse, take it as a threat and sue him. She was going to be a bitch anyway and dump her current boyfriend for someone with more money and apparently a bigger penis. He almost smirked as she got her books and left, knowing that mister big-penis had about three other girlfriends on the side and she would get what was coming to her. And the poor boyfriend would meet a better woman in not long.

While it was nice that he got intel like this, he was annoyed that his "little eye" was giving him random information instead of actually feeding him something useful for his current case.

"Ah, you are looking at the Frinman house? A beautiful building that."

Duo blinked his eyed as the elder woman behind the counter started typing in the amount of prints he had. "Pardon?"

"The Frinman house," she repeated, giving Duo a warm smile. "The old house just outside town, about half an hour drive, isn't it?"

"An hour actually."

"Oh, shucks. That long now? Oh, I knew that new highway they made would make traveling in and out of here more time-consuming." She sighed some and carefully put the prints into a paper bag. "We used to be quite the tourist place, you know. A lot of old buildings, good fishing too. Beautiful surroundings."

"Yes, it is quite impressive," Duo murmured, flashing the old woman what he hoped was a warm and charming smile. "But you said that this house was the Frinman house?"

"Oh, yes, yes. It was recently bought I believe. By a… Peace-something… Peacecroft. Peacecrum."

"Peacecraft," Duo offered. "Relena Peacecraft."

"Ah, yes, that was the name. I haven't seen her about town. Just bought the house from the real-estate and went there before an hour had passed. Heard she had plans for it. Something about making it into a hotel or something."

Duo raised an eyebrow.

Well, that was a piece of information that she had not given to him or Hilde.

"That so..? Well, I and a… colleague of mine are up there now, doing some investigations," he said after a moment.

"Is that right? Inspection then of the area and the house itself then?"

"Something like that," Duo offered, giving the woman a sheepish smile before leaning against the counter. "Though I couldn't find much about the history of the house. I was wondering if you maybe knew a little more? The name Frinman was mentioned as the original contractor of the house, but I did not know that the house or mansion still went by that name."

"Oh, there are many stories about that house that isn't in the paper, son," the woman said, giving Duo a look while slowly nodding with her head. "Weird things happened in that house."

"Yeah?" Duo shifted, looking a little more eager. Maybe this woman could give them the breakthrough they needed.

"Oh, yes. My grandmother, you see, worked there as soon as the Frinman family moved into the house, after they finished the building. My mother used to tell me all sorts of stories that her mother told her about the house."

"Do share, if I may be so bold."

The old woman chuckled softly and nodded. "Yes, yes, these are not secrets. Just that nobody believed my grandmother when she told about the mysterious things, not until that poor girl and her mother were found dead."

"Yes, I did see that in one of the articles I found. Something about the father having gone mad?"

"Oh no," the old woman replied, gesturing for Duo to lean closer before lowering her voice. "The father was a good man. According to my grandmother, Mister Frinman was a loving husband and a good, religious man, faithful to God. But the mother, she was a strange woman… Dabbled in weird things, my grandmother said. Said she was a witch, they did."

Duo raised an eyebrow. "A witch, eh?"

"Yes, they did. Worked with herbs and spells according to the local folks. It was said that she was a very dangerous woman, but Mister Frinman was smitten none the less. Some said that she had bewitched him, but she never did anything wrong after they got married. At least not where the public could see. But bad things happened in that house, my grandmother said."

The old librarian lowered her voice further until her voice was nothing but a hoarse whisper. "They say she was a devil-worshipper, they did. That she was sacrificing animals, even people to the horned-one himself. My grandmother was working the day they died and she said she heard screams from the basement. Screams from the little girl and the mother. She was much to afraid to go and see to them, but Mister Frinman did and when he came back, he was covered in blood and looked like he had seen Satan himself. Pale as a sheet and babbling like a lunatic."

She shook her head, touching her cheek gently with a small, wrinkled hand. "They said that the mother had sacrificed her own daughter to the devil for power and youth, but that she, in her madness killed herself as well. It was horrible, just horrible…"

Duo nodded some, trying to contain the excitement and the fear that was suddenly bubbling up inside him.

On one hand, they finally had a good lead as to what was going on in the house. If it had been a house of sacrifice to some entity, then that was a very good, strong lead.

Then again, the sound of devil-worshipping was bad. Very bad. Duo had only been involved with the banishment of a devil once before and he had hated every moment off it.

The case had turned about a hundred times more dangerous at the very least.

"That is very interesting," he said after the woman had fallen silent, giving her a warm smile. "And tragic, of course. It is never fun to hear about such tales, even if it makes for a good story."

"It was told to me and my sister when we were just small, small girls," the elderly woman murmured, carefully patting Duo on the shoulder. "But do me a favor. That house is no good. Tell Miss Peacecraft that it would not be good to do anything to that house besides tearing it down."

"I'll be sure to relay the message. There is nothing else you can tell me about the house," Duo asked as he reached for his valet to pay for his prints.

"There are many stories about the house, but none as terrible as the one I just told you, young man."

Duo really had to strain himself to stop himself from grinning. This was just great, something that was taken right out of a bad horror movie. A long with that newfound train he added a mental slap to his head for not thinking about interviewing the locals.

He really had been out of the game for a long, long time.

"Do you think you can point me in the direction of some people that might be willing to tell me a little more about the house?" he asked, flashing the elder woman his most charming smile. "I am fascinated by history and if there is something going on in that house, be it the supernatural or something more normal, but dangerous, then it is important that Miss Peacecraft knows about it."

"Of course, dear, I'll get you some names. It is always nice to share the local history with those who's interested, even if it is the strange stuff of the town," the elderly lady replied, smiling at Duo as she wrote down some names onto a piece of paper, talking one about the people she felt Duo should meet.

Duo let her drone on, smiling and nodding, occasionally commenting or asking light questions. He didn't know what gave him such a good feeling though; the fact that they might be getting some answers so that the merry little band of misfit could attempt to fix the house for miss Peacecraft, even if she didn't deserve it, or the fact that the good, strong vibe he got from the woman told him that she would live a nice, long and happy life.

He had a feeling that it was the latter.


End file.
